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NPRI. The NPRI reporting requirements can be complex and using You also do not need to report to the NPRI if the only activities
the federal government’s Single Window Information Manager that take place at your facility are any of the following:
(SWIM) can be a bit tricky. • Exploration for oil or gas, or the drilling of oil or gas wells
• Discharge of wastewater from a wastewater collection system
Determining if Your Facility Meets the Requirements with an average discharge of less than 10,000 m3 per day
There are three main factors that determine if your facility has to • Production of less than 500,000 tonnes at pits or quarries,
submit an NPRI report: excluding open-pit mines
1. The activities that take place at your facility
2. The total number of hours worked at your facility NPRI Substances
3. The substances manufactured, processed, otherwise used, or The NPRI substances are divided into five parts based on their re-
released to the environment at your facility porting criteria.

To determine if the NPRI requirements apply to your facility the
following is required:
1. Do any of the following activities take place at my facility? Canada is one of many
• waste or sewage sludge incineration
• wood preservation countries with a PRTR. In
• fuel terminal operations
• municipal wastewater collection and/or treatment Canada this is called the NPRI
• pit or quarry operations
• operation of stationary combustion equipment which is administered by

2. Do employees and contractors work more than 20,000 hours Environment Canada.
during a year (about 10 full-time workers/employees)?

If you answer yes to either or both of the above questions, then you
have to submit an NPRI report if you can also answer yes to the fol-
lowing question:
• Does my facility manufacture, process, otherwise use, or
release, one or more of the NPRI substances and is the Part 1A - Core substances
quantity above the threshold for that substance? You may need to report Part 1A substances if they were manufac-
If you answer no to all of these questions, you may not have to tured, processed or otherwise used at a concentration equal to or
submit an NPRI report. greater than one percent by weight and in a quantity of 10 tonnes or
more. (The exception is for byproducts and mine tailings; there is no
Exceptions concentration threshold for Part 1A substances in those cases.)
Facilities operating stationary combustion equipment have to report Examples of substances: Ammonia, zinc, methanol, toluene,
on criteria air contaminants (CACs) if the release thresholds are met phosphorus
(regardless of employee hours). Examples of facility types: sewage treatment; oil and gas;
If your facility is subject to the chromium electroplating, manufacturers of chemicals, plastics, paint and wood products;
chromium anodizing and reverse etching regulations you must metal fabricators
report for hexavalent chromium (and its compounds) regardless
of the number of employees and regardless of other reporting Part 1B - Alternate threshold substances
thresholds. This requirement was mandated in 2018. You may need to report 1B substances if they were manufactured,
You do not need to report releases, disposals or transfers of NPRI processed or otherwise used in quantities equal to or more than
substances that came from the following activities: specific mass thresholds.
• Education or training of students Examples of substances: lead, cadmium, arsenic, cobalt,
• Research or testing selenium, mercury
• Maintenance and repair of vehicles Examples of facility types: sewage treatment; wood preserva-
• Distribution, storage or retail sale of fuels, except as part of tion; metal plating; military bases; pulp and paper mills; power
terminal operations stations; cement and lime manufacturers; hospitals; mining and
• Wholesale or retail sale of the substance itself or products metal production
that contain the substance
• The growing, harvesting or management of renewable Part 2 - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
natural resources You may need to report if PAHs were incidentally manufactured or
• Dentistry present in mine tailings, and they were released, disposed of or trans-
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