It’s easy to tell if a food product is truly organic in BC. Thanks to our province’s mandatory Organic Certification Regulation, which came into effect in 2018, all food products marketed as organic must be certified through a provincial or federal program. That means if you see the word ‘organic’ on a food product in BC, you’ll know it’s certified organic and has been grown or made according to rigorous standards.Overview of the regulations
Organic products in British Columbia will either bear the BC Organic stamp or the Canada Organic logo.
This logo is the official symbol of the British Columbia Certified Organic Program (BCCOP). It’s used to identify products produced and sold in BC with 95-100% organic ingredients, from operations that are certified by Organic BC accredited certification bodies.Learn more about the BCCOP
The Canada Organic logo is used on products certified under the Canadian Organic Regime (COR), Canada’s national regulated system for organic agricultural products. Products bearing this logo must contain 95-100% organic content and can be sold across Canada and internationally.Learn more about COR
Displaying an organic logo on a product is voluntary, so another way to know if a product is organic is to look for a ‘certified by’ or ‘certified organic by’ statement on the label identifying the certifying body.
You can also use our organic directory to view certified organic operations throughout British Columbia.Visit the directory
In addition to the British Columbia Certified Organic Program logo and the Canada Organic logo, you may also notice international organic symbols, such as the USDA and EU organic logos.
Canada has several organic equivalency arrangements with other countries. These arrangements are trade agreements and are established only after assessing and comparing the organic regulatory systems, including standards, of both countries. Once an organic equivalency arrangement is in place, products from approved countries are considered to meet Canadian organic requirements.
For a full list of Canada’s organic equivalency arrangements, please visit the CFIA website.Visit the CFIA website
Because the term “organic” is a protected label in British Columbia, uncertified operators whose products carry the organic label could face penalties including fines.
Examples of misuse of the organic label by an uncertified operator include:
Have you discovered a person or company who is falsely marketing their products as organic in British Columbia?Here's what to do
Organic BC is committed to supporting certified organic farms and businesses by working to prevent and address fraud in partnership with the BC Ministry of Agriculture and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Most commonly, fraud consists of fraudulent certificates which falsely represent agricultural products as certified organic under either the BC Certified Organic Program or the Canada Organic Regime. Learn more and view a list of fraudulent certifications below.View fraudulent certificates