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Reporting under the Products Containing Mercury Regulations

Since the Regulations came into force in November 2015, manufacturers and importers of exempted or permitted mercury containing products are required to report to Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) every 3 years. The next report will be due March 31, 2023 on activities that occurred in 2022.

To access the Products Containing Mercury Regulations online reporting system, visit ECCC’s Single Window Information Manager (SWIM).

To assist you in filling out your report, an optional spreadsheet has been designed for you to use offline to keep track of your activities. Reports can then be completed by copying and pasting your information from the spreadsheet into the PCMR online report.

The following steps will show you how to gain access to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations (PCMR) online reporting system within the Single Window Information Manager (SWIM). For more detailed instructions on the PCMR online reporting system, you can consult the Comprehensive User Guide.

5 steps for easy reporting

How do I gain online access to the reporting system for the Products Containing Mercury Regulations (PCMR)?

Step 1. Do you have a Single Window Information Manager (SWIM) account?

A one-time registration is required to obtain an account for Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC) SWIM. An account is mandatory to access the PCMR. Any employee responsible for reporting should have their own GCkey registration.

Yes

Open SWIM in a new tab and continue to step 2.

Yes, but I forgot my username or password

To recover your personal account:

No

To create a personal account:

Step 2. Has your organization been created in SWIM?
Yes

To find it in SWIM:

  • click Organization on left hand menu, you should see it listed in the table, if not:
    • you can filter items in the table or click Search for an organization
    • if you cannot find the organization; broaden your search criteria by shortening the name to try to find different spellings of the name
  • once you find it, click on the name of the organization and follow instructions for requesting access to it by selecting the program required (video tutorial: Connecting to an organization| text guide: Managing access to your organization)
  • continue to step 3
No / I do not know

To find out if your organization has been created in SWIM:

  • click Organization on left hand menu, you should see it in the list, if not:
    • click Search for an organization on the bottom of the page
    • if you cannot find the organization; broaden your search criteria by shortening the name to try to find different spellings of the name
    • if you still can’t find your organization, select Add a New Organization to create it
  • complete the organization profile page as completely as possible and click Save
  • continue to step 3

Note: By creating a new organization on SWIM, you will become the SWIM Organization lead of this newly created organization.

Step 3. Do you have Authorized submitter access? You will know you do if you see the PCMR application on your SWIM home screen.

Note: In SWIM, the SWIM Organization lead can grant access to themselves or to others to any of the programs hosted under SWIM. In the PCMR online reporting system, a person with Data entry access can enter data but cannot submit reports. Only Authorized submitter access can submit a report.

Yes

Continue to step 4.

No

If you do not have Authorized submitter access:

  • contact your SWIM Organization lead to get access
  • your SWIM Organization lead will send you an ECCCKey (directions for SWIM Organization lead below)
  • click Redeem ECCCKey on left-hand menu of SWIM, copy and paste the ECCCKey to the page and select Redeem (text guide: Redeem ECCCKey)
  • continue to step 4
I am a new SWIM Organization lead and need to grant myself access.

You need to create your own authorized submitter access to the PCMR. On the left hand menu of SWIM:

  • click Organization and select your organization
  • click Manage access (video tutorial: Managing access to your organization |text guide: Grant access)
  • click Grant access and choose the role you need (Data entry or Authorized submitter)
  • type de number of keys you want and click Generate ECCCKey
  • copy the key
  • click Redeem ECCCKey on the left-hand menu of SWIM, copy and paste that ECCCKey to the page and select Activate key
  • continue to step 4
I am an existing SWIM Organization lead that needs to grant access to a new user.

On the left hand menu of SWIM:

  • click Organization and select your organization
  • click Manage access (video tutorial: Managing access to your organization |text guide: Grant access)
  • click Grant access and choose Authorized submitter or Data entry access
  • select the facility in applies for and click Continue
  • enter the number of key(s) needed and click Generate ECCCKey
  • copy that ECCCKey and send it by email to your new user
  • new user will have to redeem the ECCCKey and continue to step 4
I need to be the new SWIM Organization lead or I do not know who is the SWIM Organization lead.

If you do not know who is the current SWIM Organization lead:

  • ask your management who is or was the SWIM Oorganization lead for your organization
  • contact the SWIM Organization lead and have them follow the instructions under 'step 3 - I am an existing SWIM organization lead that needs to grant access to a new user' to grant yourself authorized submitter access for the PCMR program

If you need to become the new SWIM Organization lead because the current SWIM Organization lead is not available or is no longer with the organization:

  • ask your management for confirmation that you are to be the new SWIM Organization lead (and keep this confirmation readily available to send to ECCC upon request)
  • click Request access on the left-hand menu of SWIM to contact ECCC (video tutorial: Managing access to your organization |text guide: Request access)
  • scroll down and select 'Single Window Information Manager'
  • select the role 'SWIM Organization lead'
  • a request will be send to ECCC
  • ECCC will contact you and provide assistance (can take up to 3 business days)
    • once it is verified that you should be the new SWIM Organization lead, ECCC will send you an access code that can be copied and pasted into the Redeem key section on the SWIM web page on left side menu
    • you will then become a SWIM organization lead
  • follow the instructions under 'step 3 - I am a new SWIM Organization lead and need to grant myself access' to grant yourself access as an Authorized submitter for the PCMR program

Note: ECCC will contact you and provide assistance (can take up to 3 business days).

Step 4. Access to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations (PCMR) section with authorized submitter rights.

Once at the home page of your SWIM account, select the Products Containing Mercury Regulations from the list of ECCC reporting systems (tutorial: How to access PCMR).

Step 5. Need help with SWIM or PCMR?

If you require further assistance or have any questions, please contact the SWIM team or the Products Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada.

SWIM team:
Email: gigu-swim@ec.gc.ca

Products Division:
Telephone: 1-888-391-3426
Email: Produits-Products@ec.gc.ca


Additional questions

What are the reporting deadlines?

Reports must be submitted every third year, by March 31st following the calendar year for which data is being reported.

Report due date Calendar year of data to report
March 31, 2020 2019
March 31, 2023 2022
March 31 of every third year thereafter Every third year thereafter
What you can do in the PCMR online reporting system?

Create a new report

  • See section 4.1 of the PCMR guide
  • Information can be entered directly into the online reporting system
  • If needed, a downloadable spreadsheet is available to help regulated parties prepare their online report in advance (the information from the spreadsheet can be copied and pasted into the table(s) available on the online reporting system)
  • The information from previous reports can also be copied and pasted into the table(s) available on the online reporting system

Edit a report that has not been submitted

Modify a submitted report

  • To modify a submitted report, an official request to unlock the report must be sent to Produits-Products@ec.gc.ca
  • In your email request to unlock your report, please ensure to include the following:
    • name of the organization as it appears in the online reporting system
    • reporting year of the report to unlock
    • reason why you need to regain access to the submitted report

Delete a report

  • Only reports that have not been submitted can be deleted
  • To delete a report that has not been submitted, see section 4.4 of the PCMR guide

Submit a report

  • See section 4.5 of the PCMR guide
  • Warning: the report is not submitted until the authorized submitter clicks Submit and certify
What kinds of products should be reported under the Product category ‘Fluorescent and discharge lamps other than those referred to in items 2 to 13’?

Item 14 of the schedule of the regulations is intended to cover a wide variety of lamps containing mercury that are not covered by items 2 to 13 of the schedule, including, for example, UV disinfection lamps, high-intensity UV lamp, etc.

What does “general lighting purposes” mean when used for product category descriptions in items 2-8?

A lamp for “general lighting purposes” means a lamp, bulb, or tube that provides functional illumination for indoor residential, indoor commercial, or outdoor use. It does not include specialty lighting products such as appliance, black light, germicidal, bug, coloured, plant light, reflector, shatter resistant, sign service, or high output fluorescent lamps.

Still have questions?


In the event of an inconsistency between this information and the regulations under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, the regulations and the statute prevail.

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