September 5, 2025. Halifax. A Parliamentary e-petition was launched yesterday calling on the House of Commons to require companies to label all genetically engineered (genetically modified or GM) foods including those produced through the new techniques of gene editing such as CRISPR.(1)

“We want to know how our food is produced and where it comes from,” said Rachel Parent of the group Kids Right to Know which has argued for mandatory labelling since 2012. “We want to know which foods are genetically engineered.”

The e-petition 6768 was launched on the House of Commons website by the 15-group network the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network in partnership with Kids Right to Know, and authorized by Yves Perron, Member of Parliament for Berthier—Maskinongé and the Bloc Quebecois agriculture critic.

“Mandatory labelling is urgent because biotechnology companies can now start selling gene-edited fruits and vegetables without even notifying the government,” said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network. “Consumers should have transparency and choice in the marketplace.”

There are five genetically engineered (also called genetically modified or GM) food crops grown in Canada (GM corn, soy, canola, sugar beet and alfalfa) and they are widely consumed as processed food ingredients.(2) There are also four genetically engineered fruits and vegetables sold on the market in Canada, with a very marginal presence in grocery stores (GM sweet corn, papaya, squash and pineapple). However, the new GM techniques of gene editing could soon mean the sale of many new genetically modified organisms (GMOs), including more GM whole fruits and vegetables.

Health Canada will not conduct safety assessments of many coming gene-edited foods and they will not therefore appear on Health Canada’s public list of approved “novel foods,” even though they can be sold for human consumption.(3)

“Labels are necessary so we can all make informed choices in the grocery store,” said nutritionist Julie Daniluk who was one of the first of the five signatories required to launch the House of Commons e-petition. “Our food is our medicine.”

In 2022-2023, the Canadian government removed pre-market regulation for foods from gene-edited plants if these new GMOs have no foreign DNA (no DNA from other species).(4)  These changes were designed by a corporate-government committee, called the “Tiger Team,” made up of representatives from the biotechnology and pesticide industry lobby group CropLife, with other industry lobby groups and government officials.(5)

The petition e-6768 is posted until November 3, 2025 on the House of Commons website.

For more information: Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator, Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, 902 209 4906, coordinator@cban.ca, www.cban.ca/labelling

(1) E-petition 6768 https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-6768
(2) See www.cban.ca/gmfoods
(3)  CBAN, Federal government abandons safety assessments and transparency for new gene-edited foods, May 18, 2022,
(4)  CBAN, Federal government allows biotechnology companies free reign in the food system, removes safety checks on corporate science and denies transparency to farmers and food companies, May 3, 2023. or see www.cban.ca/NoExemptions
(5)  Thomas Gerbet, Radio-Canada, « Tiger Team » : quand fonctionnaires et lobbyistes coopèrent dans l’ombre, September 26, 2023.