Authorization of Explosives

Explosives that are manufactured, transported, owned or used in Canada—or imported into Canada—must:

• appear on the Authorized Products Search, or
• be covered by a permit, certificate or special authority issued by the Explosives Regulatory Department for special tests or product trials

Explosives include propellants, ammunition, fireworks, model rocket motors and toy pistol caps, as well as blasting explosives.

To list a product on the List of Authorized Explosives, you must submit an application for authorization.

You can learn more about explosives safety and security technology by reading the Explosives Act and Regulations.

The authorization process

During the authorization process, an explosive substances or item is assigned a type, hazard category and UN number (for example, consumer fireworks would be classified for transport as Fireworks, 1.4G, UN0336). This classification identifies the hazards posed by the explosive substance or item as packaged for transport.
A few other points worth knowing are:

• When a 1.4S classification is expected, copies of the test results may be requested.
• In some instances, further tests may be needed to determine the appropriate classification.
• Canada may accept classifications provided by other competent authorities, such as DOT (United States), BAM (Germany), HSE (United Kingdom), and Ineris (France).
• The transport classification of an explosive can be determined by analogy to comparable explosives packaged similarly.
• In some instances, samples are needed for transport classification testing.
• For fireworks items, the default classification table published in the UN Manual – Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods is consulted