What a supplement or wellness brand can claim in Canada: the natural health product rules

Section 4 of the Natural Health Products Regulations says no person shall sell a natural health product unless a product licence is issued for it. The licence sets out the product's authorized ingredients, doses and recommended uses, and the label must show the product number preceded by NPN, or DIN HM for a homeopathic medicine.

For a brand, the licence is the source of its permitted language. The consumer advertising guidelines published by Ad Standards, which Health Canada points advertisers to, say therapeutic claims must be consistent with the terms of market authorization. A product licensed to help support immune function has that claim to work with, and a line about fighting infection goes beyond it.

Section 3 of the Food and Drugs Act prohibits advertising any food, drug, cosmetic or device to the general public as a treatment, preventative or cure for the diseases listed in Schedule A.1, a list that includes cancer, asthma, addiction and acute anxiety states. The Natural Health Products Regulations give these products one exemption: they may be advertised as a preventative for those diseases where authorized, but never as a treatment or cure.

Section 9 of the Act adds the general rule against advertising a drug in a false, misleading or deceptive manner. Customer testimonials that describe a cure, and hashtags that name a disease, make the claim just as surely as body copy does.

Amendments registered in June 2022 brought in new labelling requirements for natural health products, including a standardized product facts table and clearer allergen and warning information. Health Canada's guidance says the provisions came into force on 21 June 2025, and that under a ministerial order published in March 2025 all natural health products have until 22 June 2028 to comply.

A brand planning new packaging should design to the new format now. The facts table takes real space on a small bottle, and a pack built around it avoids a forced redesign two years on.

Wellness marketing drifts toward promises beyond what the licence supports, which is where most enforcement trouble starts. The stronger brands treat the authorized claim as fixed and compete on everything around it: sourcing, formulation choices, testing, taste, format and the routine the product fits into.

That is also better positioning. Every competitor with the same ingredient holds the same claim. Provenance, transparency and a clear point of view about who the product is for are the parts of the brand nobody else can copy.