M-97 Measures for Canadians with visual impairments

That, given that,

(i) Canadians with visual impairments can face significant difficulties in accessing critical product information including reading small-font product labels,

(ii) the Parliament of Canada through the passage of "Vanessa's Law" in 2015, as well as more recent efforts now being undertaken through Health Canada's "Self-Care Framework" initiative, has made the modernization of product labelling including the use of "plain language" a priority, improvements in the labelling of consumer health products, as well as the use of digital labels,

(iii) digital labels offer opportunities to accommodate the needs of Canadians with visual impairments, as well as provide product information in languages other than Canada's official languages with which a consumer may be more familiar or comfortable,

(iv) advances in web-based technology are making digital labelling a growing reality for consumers, with various industry-led initiatives providing consumers with expanded product information in more accessible and readable formats including enlargeable fonts, audio services, and the use of multiple languages,

(v) digital labelling initiatives can further assist consumers in identifying counterfeit products, as well as other possible risks or dangers to their health and safety,

the House call upon the government:

(a) to encourage and enable the use of next-generation digital product labeling technology, as appropriate, as part of Health Canada's ongoing product labeling modernization such that Canadian consumers can fully benefit from this technology in accessing information regarding ingredients, risks, and other relevant information pertaining to consumer safety, health and education; and

(b) to allow companies the choice to, in an incremental process that includes meaningful consultation with industry, utilize market-developed product label audio read-out technologies so Canadians with disabilities and language barriers can comprehend important safety measures such as product indications, contra-indications, risks, and uses in a digital format.