Each year, the City of Toronto sends a notice to businesses to remind them of the Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw (Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 423) and its requirements.
The ChemTRAC program was suspended from 2020 to 2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic response. The program resumed in January 2024.
ChemTRAC is a program in Toronto that tracks and discloses the use and release of 25 priority substances (chemicals) in our city. The program implements the Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw. Learn more about ChemTRAC.
The Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw requires businesses that manufacture, use, or release any of the 25 identified priority substances listed in the bylaw to report them to Toronto Public Health if they are released to the environment above a specific threshold.
The ChemTRAC program was suspended from 2020 to 2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic response. The program resumed in January 2024.
As a result of restarting the program, you may be receiving a letter asking you to submit a report for the first time. Get information on submitting a report, including tools and information for businesses, free webinars and in-person training workshops.
Submit your report online. Use the 17-digit Registration ID (R-code) you received in your mailed letter to log into the online reporting system.
Facilities need to submit their report by June 30, 2025.
A list of facilities exempt from the bylaw reporting requirements include:
If your facility is any of the above categories, you may submit a report as ‘Exempt’ to be removed from our list of facilities required to report. Use the 17-digit Registration ID in the letter you received in the mail to log into the online reporting system.
The Bylaw applies to your facility if:
Your 17-digit Registration ID (R-code) is in the letter mailed to you. Use the R-code to log into the online reporting system and submit your report.
If you cannot find your R-code, email chemtrac@toronto.ca or call 416-338-7600.
The Environmental Reporting and Disclosure Bylaw identifies 25 priority substances (chemicals) that are in Toronto’s air environment at levels that are of concern for health. The reporting thresholds for each of these substances is different. The list of substances can also be found in Schedule A of the Bylaw (page 423-8).
If your facility does not use the chemicals directly, perhaps you use them indirectly. Often businesses use the listed substances indirectly because the raw materials/products they use may contain one or more of the listed substances.
You may find this information by looking at the product’s label. For example, paints and solvents used by auto body shops contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which is a listed type of reportable substance. Also, facilities may produce some of the listed substances as by-products in their process. For example, nitrogen oxides (NOx) come from burning natural gas in an oven or furnace. These are reportable to ChemTRAC as manufactured substances.
More information, including calculators and tools, is available for specific business sectors.
If you determine that you do not use any of the 25 priority substances (chemicals) to a reportable level, you will not need to report.
In this case your facility would be below the threshold for reporting. While you are not required to report, Toronto Public Health encourages you to submit a report as a ‘below threshold facility’.
The amounts or types of chemicals your facility uses or releases may change from year to year. Because of this, you should review your reporting requirements each year to determine whether or not you need to report.
Tools and information are available for specific business sectors to assist you in calculating the amounts of substances manufactured, used and released.
ChemTRAC offers sector specific workshops online and in-person to show you how to prepare your information, do the calculations and submit your report. You are strongly encouraged reserve a spot in one of these sessions as one-on-one support over the phone will be unavailable.
You may need to collect relevant information from sources such as: chemical inventory, natural gas bills, Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), emission control information (e.g. filter efficiency), purchase invoices of materials containing any of the priority substances, and other information related to the processes or activities in the facility.
You will need:
The ChemTRAC program was suspended from 2020 to 2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic response. The program resumed in January 2024.
As a result, businesses do not have to submit ChemTRAC reports for the reporting years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
There have not been any changes to the reporting requirements since reports were last submitted in 2019.
We strongly encourage businesses/facilities to sign up for a free in-person workshop or online webinar to show you how to prepare your information, do the calculations and submit your report.
Tools and information, including calculators, are also available for specific business sectors.
If you cannot find the answer to your question on our website or at a workshop, contact ChemTRAC by calling 416-338-7600 or sending an email to chemtrac@toronto.ca
The owner/operator of a facility is responsible for keeping, for five years, all the supporting information used to create their report. For example: amounts of materials purchased, used and sold, chemical safety datasheets, technical calculations, etc.