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Fees for the Review of Human and Veterinary Drug Establishment Licence Applications

Foreword

Guidance documents are meant to provide assistance to industry and health care professionals on how to comply with governing statutes and regulations. They also provide assistance to Health Canada staff on how mandates and objectives should be implemented in a manner that is fair, consistent, and effective.

This guidance document is an administrative instrument not having force of law; it provides clarification on the applicability of the Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order and how to comply with the associated requirements.

It is important to note that Health Canada reserves the right to request information or material, or define conditions not specifically described in this document, in order to allow the Department to administer fees associated with providing regulatory oversight of activities related to drugs and medical devices. Health Canada is committed to ensuring that such requests are justifiable and that decisions are clearly documented.

This document should be read in conjunction with the accompanying notice and the relevant sections of other applicable guidance documents.

Please note that this guidance document is in effect as of April 1, 2020.

Table of Contents

Related guides and help

Related acts and regulations

1. Introduction

As required by the Food and Drugs Act and its regulations, any person in Canada must obtain a drug establishment licence (DEL) if they are engaged in any of the following six regulated activities with respect to drugs - fabricate, import, distribute, wholesale, package/label, and test. Health Canada has charged fees since 1995 to recover some of the costs associated with the regulatory oversight of these activities.

This document provides guidance on how the fees for the review of an application for a DEL will be administered, as stipulated in the Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order.

1.1 Objective

This guidance document is intended to assist applicants in fulfilling regulatory requirements related to DEL fees as per the Food and Drugs Act, its regulations, and the order. In the case of any discrepancies between this document and the Food and Drugs Act (FDA), its regulations, and the order, the latter three take precedence over this document.

1.2 Policy statements

Those submitting DEL applications for human or veterinary drugs will be charged a fee for the examination of the licence application, including all compliance and enforcement and supporting activities needed to ensure that the applicant/DEL holder conforms to all regulatory requirements. Fees are proportionate to the type and complexity of the regulated activity in which the applicant is engaged. The applicable fees are laid out in Schedules 3 and 4 of the Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order. Fees can be waived for those who qualify for a fee exemption. Refer to Section 3.4 Fee mitigation and exemptions for further details on fee exemptions.

As of April 1, 2020, new fees are in effect. These fees are being phased-in over 4 years for human/human and veterinary DEL fees as laid out in Schedule 3 and 7 years for veterinary only DEL fees as laid out in Schedule 4. They will also increase annually to keep up with inflation. Refer to Section 3.6 Applicable fees for further details.

Should fees not be paid, Health Canada has the authority to withhold services, approvals or rights and privileges. This may include the cancellation of an establishment licence.

Further, as of April 1, 2020, Health Canada:

2. The Drug Establishment Licence fee

This section provides guidance about the structure and components of the DEL fee.

2.1 Fees for Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) applications

The same Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fees apply to the examination of the following three types of applications:

For an application for a new or reinstated DEL or for an application to add a domestic building to a DEL, the fee covers the examination of the application, as well as the cost of regulatory oversight for the fiscal year in which the application is received.

For an ALR application, the fee covers the examination of the ALR application, as well as the regulatory oversight for the subsequent fiscal year.

In the case of a new DEL application received on January 1, 2022, a new DEL application fee will be charged upon the receipt of the application. If the DEL is granted before March 31, 2022, since the ALR runs from January to March, the new licence holder will also be required to file an ALR application for the subsequent fiscal year (April 1 2022 – March 31, 2023) and an additional DEL fee will be payable upon receipt of the ALR application. This will result in two DEL fees (i.e. one for the new DEL application and one for the ALR application) being payable in the span of three months.

The manner in which the DEL fee is calculated is the same for human/human and veterinary use, and veterinary use only drugs. However, there are two separate fee schedules; one for establishments dealing with drugs for human/human and veterinary use, with fees phasing in over 4 years, and a separate fee schedule for drugs for veterinary use only, with fees phasing-in over 7 years.

2.1.1. Fees for an application for an amendment to add a domestic building to a Drug Establishment Licence (DEL)

Mergers & Acquisitions

For the purposes of identifying applicable fees when adding a domestic building to a Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) as part of a merger or an acquisition, a new domestic building is defined as:

If the domestic building is new to Health Canada, as per the definition above, the addition of the building to the licence is subject to fees.

If the domestic building is not new to Health Canada, as per the definition above, the addition of the building is not subject to fees so long as the fee was collected at the preceding ALR.

In the case where a merger or acquisition results in the creation of a new legal entity, the new legal entity must apply for a new DEL. In such cases, fees apply as per the Fees Order.

Relocations

For the purposes of identifying applicable fees for an amendment to relocate an existing domestic building to a new address, this type of licence change is considered an administrative amendment to the licence, and as such, no DEL fees apply.

2.2 How the Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee is calculated

There are two components to the Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee:

2.2.1 The domestic component of the Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee

The fees associated with each regulated activity are listed in the Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order, in Schedule 3 for drugs for human/human and veterinary use and in Schedule 4 for drugs for veterinary use only. The Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee is charged according to the regulated activity listed on the application for each domestic building.

The fee per regulated activity reflects the level of regulatory effort needed to oversee that activity. Regulated activities, ordered from the greatest to the least level of regulatory oversight required (also known as 'most upstream'), are:

The domestic component of the DEL fee is determined based on the most upstream activity, regardless of the number of activities conducted at the domestic building. This applies to each domestic building that is listed on the licence or application. For example, an application for both the activity of importation and wholesale at one domestic building will be charged the importation fee.

2.2.2 The building outside Canada (or foreign building) component of the Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee

The second Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee component is determined based on the number of unique foreign buildings listed on the licence or application.

The uniqueness of a foreign building is determined by its address. Unique foreign buildings are buildings that do not share the same address. If two foreign buildings are located at the same address, the foreign building fee will only be payable once.

For a new or reinstated DEL application, the foreign building fee is determined based on the number of unique foreign buildings listed on the application, regardless of whether that building handles finished dosage form (FDF) products or active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

For annual licence review applications, the foreign building fee is determined based on each unique foreign building that will be maintained on the licence in the next fiscal year, regardless of whether that building handles FDF products or APIs.

2.3. Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee proration

The application for a new or reinstated Drug Establishment Licence (DEL), or an application to amend a DEL to request the addition of a new domestic building to the licence, could be subject to fee proration, depending on when during the Government of Canada fiscal year the application is received (see Table 1). Applications for the annual review of an existing DEL are not eligible for fee proration.

The percentage of the fee payable for applications received in each quarter of the Government of Canada fiscal year is shown in Schedule 5 of the Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order and in Table 1, below. For example, if the application to amend a licence to add a new domestic building is received on November 15, that application would be charged 50% of the full fee.

Table 1: Fee Proration for Eligible Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) Applications
Application Receipt Date Percent of Full Fee Payable
April 1 to June 30 100%
July 1 to September 30 75%
October 1 to December 31 50%
January 1 to March 31 25%

2.4 Summary of how the Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fee is calculated

The applicable components of the DEL fee are summarized by application type in Table 2.

Table 2: DEL Fee Components by Application Type
Application Type Domestic
Fee Component		 Building Outside Canada (Foreign Building)
Fee Component		 When is the fee charged? Is fee proration applicable?
Fee Basis Fee Calculation Fee Basis Fee Calculation
New or Reinstated Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) Fee to review an application to obtain an establishment licence for one or more domestic buildings. One fee per building, where the fee charged corresponds to the activity requiring the highest level of regulatory oversight listed on the application (most upstream activity). The same fee applies to FDF and/or API buildings. Fee to review the application to list one or more unique foreign buildings on the establishment licence associated with each domestic building. Flat fee per unique foreign building, regardless of activity. The same flat fee applies to FDF and API buildings. Fee is charged at the time of application, payable upon invoice issuance. Yes
DEL Amendment to add a domestic building Fee to review an application to add a domestic building to an existing establishment licence. The fee charged corresponds to the activity requiring the highest level of regulatory oversight listed on the application (most upstream activity). The same fee applies to FDF and/or API buildings. Fee to review the application to list one or unique more foreign buildings on the establishment licence associated with the new domestic building, if applicable. Flat fee per unique foreign building, regardless of activity. The same flat fee applies to FDF and API buildings.

Domestic fee component is charged at the time of the amendment application, payable upon invoice issuance.

Foreign building fee is charged at the time of annual licence review, payable upon invoice issuance.

 Yes
Annual Licence Review (ALR) Fee to review an ALR application for all domestic buildings that are maintained on the establishment licence in the new fiscal year. One fee per building, where the fee charged corresponds to the activity requiring the highest level of regulatory oversight listed on the application (most upstream activity). The same fee applies to FDF and/or API buildings. Fee to review an ALR application for all unique foreign buildings that are maintained on the establishment licence in the new fiscal year. Flat fee per unique foreign building, regardless of activity. The same flat fee applies to FDF and API buildings. Fee is charged at the time of annual licence review application, payable upon invoice issuance. No

2.5 Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) – Fee Calculator

To assist new applicants and existing licence holders estimate their Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fees for their application, Health Canada has developed a DEL Fee Calculator.

The DEL calculator is a guide and provides estimates on current DEL fees. If the estimated fee total generated by the DEL Fee Calculator for an application differs from actual fees payable as calculated by Health Canada, the latter calculation will apply.

2.5.1 Guidelines for the DEL Fee Calculator

In order to use the fee calculator effectively, please read and follow the instructions below:
Before inputting information, ensure the following information is available:

Please note that the information in the fields marked as "required" are mandatory. Once all the required fields have been correctly entered, you may proceed to enter the rest of the information.

Ensure the correct Application Type and Fee Category are selected, as each type has different field definitions, descriptions, or calculations depending on the requirements of the application. For any questions on how to use to use the calculator, please contact the Cost Recovery Invoicing Unit at criu-ufrc@hc-sc.gc.ca.

3. Guidance

This section provides detailed information on the timing of fee payment, mitigation, exemptions, and credit for missed performance standards.

3.1 Timing of fee payment

Following Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) screening and upon determination that the application is accepted for further review, Health Canada will issue a notice to the applicant and an invoice for the applicable fee. For information about the DEL application and licensing process, please refer to the Management of Applications and Performance for Drug Establishment Licences (GUI-0127) and the Drug Establishment Licence Application: Forms and Instructions (FRM-0033).

Fees may be paid by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or American Express), cheque, money order, international bank draft, or bank wire. All payments must include a reference to the DEL licence number or company's Health Canada account number to avoid delays or errors. Further instructions for the payment of fees are outlined in How to Pay Your Establishment License Fees.

3.2 Late payments

Payment is due upon issuance of the invoice. Interest on overdue accounts begins to accrue 30 days from the date of invoice issuance.

In the event that the applicable fee is not paid in full within 30 days of the invoice date, the application will be placed on cost recovery hold, at which point all work associated with the application will stop.

The performance standard for the completion of the review of a Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) application is 250 calendar days. When an application is placed on cost recovery hold, the countdown against the 250-day service standard will be halted.

This hold will remain in place until the payment is made. If payment is not received within 45 calendar days from the start date of the cost recovery hold, the application may be rejected and in the case of ALR, the licence may be subject to cancellation.

Health Canada is committed to working with applicants whose accounts are in arrears, and encourages them to contact us as soon as possible to establish a monthly payment arrangement.

Applicants who have questions regarding their account may contact Accounts Receivable at 1-800-815-0506 or by email at ar-cr@hc-sc.gc.ca.

3.3 Overpayments

Any overpayment of fees will automatically be credited to the associated account. To request a refund of a credit balance, a written request must be submitted by email to the Cost Recovery Invoicing Unit at criu-ufrc@hc-sc.gc.ca.

Applicants may also request that their credit balance be applied to their account toward future fees. Applicants wishing to do so must submit a request to the Cost Recovery Invoicing Unit and attach a copy of their most recent statement, indicating the account or client number, as well as the available credit amount.

Applicants wishing to dispute the fee indicated on their invoice may submit a request for reconsideration by email to the Cost Recovery Invoicing Unit. To ensure the processing of an application is not impeded by a cost recovery hold, it is important that applicants pay their fee on time, even as Health Canada investigates a fee disagreement. Once the review of the fee is complete, any outstanding credits will be issued.

3.4 Fee mitigation and exemptions

Two types of fee mitigation are available:

To be considered for fee mitigation, applicants must apply at the time of filing by indicating the type of mitigation requested on the application form.

3.4.1 Small business

Applicants who meet the criteria of a small business will be invoiced at the reduced fee described below. However, should Health Canada subsequently determine that the applicant does not qualify as a small business the full fee is payable. In the event that the reduced fee has already been invoiced and paid, the difference between the full fee and the original invoice will be payable.

A small business is definedFootnote 2 as:

Applicants that meet the above definition are eligible for a 25% reduction of the fee payable.

Applicants must be registered as a small business with Health Canada before submitting their application. The registration must be completed via the online Drug and Medical Device Small Business Application.

Additionally, applicants must indicate that they have registered and obtained small business status on the Drug Establishment Licence Application: Forms and Instructions (FRM-0033). In the case of an Annual Licence Review (ALR) application, applicants must fill out the Fee Checklist and the return it with their application. Indicating small business status on the application or fees checklist does not qualify you as a small business.

Please note that a company's small business status expires a year after registration. If you have previously registered as a small business with Health Canada, and still meet the definition as indicated above, you will need to ensure the status is renewed before submitting your ALR application. If your unique identifier has changed since your previous registration, you will need to register again.

For more information and to learn how to apply for a small business status with Health Canada, please visit the Small Business Mitigation webpages. Applicants are also responsible for ensuring their registration information is kept up to date.

Applicants who wish to formally register as a small business must provide the information below. Applicants who have not registered as a small business will be charged the full fee. Information should include:

Affiliated companies are those that:

In the event that a company has not yet completed a full fiscal year, it is permissible to use estimates/projections with respect to annual gross revenue and number of employees. In this situation Health Canada may follow-up once the applicant's fiscal year end date has passed to verify the company's small business status.

Note that at any point in time, Health Canada may request additional information from the applicant to verify the company's small business status. This may include (but is not limited to):

3.4.2 Publicly funded health care institutions or government organizations

All applications filed by publicly funded health care institutions, or any branch or agency of the Government of Canada or of a province or territory, are exempt from fees.

A publicly funded institution is defined as an institution that is funded by the Government of Canada or a provincial government, and is:

In order to be considered for the publicly funded health care institution or Government organization fee exemption, the applicant must indicate it on their Drug Establishment Licence Application: Forms and Instructions (FRM-0033).

3.5 Missed performance standards

Performance for all applications filed on or after April 1, 2020 are being tracked individuallyFootnote 3. The Performance Standards for Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order defines the service standard applicable to each fee associated with drugs and medical devices. For drug establishment licences, the performance standard of 250 calendar days reflects the time to complete the review of the application. This is defined as the period from the date of receipt of the complete application to the date of approval or rejection of the application, not including any clock pauses or cost recovery holds.

Please see the Management of Applications and Performance for Drug Establishment Licences guide(GUI-0127) for more information regarding the performance standard for DEL applications and the associated pause the clock policy.

In the event that a regulatory decision is not provided within the established DEL performance standard of 250 calendar days, applicants will be credited 25% of the fee originally paid. Health Canada will notify the applicant following the processing of the application. Note that Health Canada joint and parallel reviews with other regulatory agencies will be exempt from the application of the performance standard remissions.

3.6 Applicable fees

Applicable Drug Establishment Licence (DEL) fees are laid out in Schedules 3 and 4 of the Fees in Respect of Drugs and Medical Devices Order. Beginning on April 1, 2021, fees increase annually by an amount equivalent to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the previous year. An annual adjustment is necessary to ensure that fees continue to keep pace with the impact of inflation on regulatory oversight costs. Each fall, Health Canada will publish a Notice of Intent in the Canada Gazette, setting out the fees to be implemented the following April 1, and update Funding and Fees accordingly.

3.7 General contact information

Application Inquiries

Drug Establishment Licensing Unit
Health Canada
200 Eglantine Driveway, Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K9

General DEL questions:
del.questions-leppp@hc-sc.gc.ca

Annual Licence Review application questions:
del.alr-eal.lepp@hc-sc.gc.ca

Fee Inquiries

Applicants with fee inquiries and/or those who wish to dispute a fee that is subject to this guidance document should contact:

Cost Recovery Invoicing Unit
Health Canada
200 Eglantine Driveway, Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9
By email: criu-ufrc@hc-sc.gc.ca

Invoice Payment Inquiries

Accounts Receivable
Address Locator: 1918B
18th Floor, Room 1804B, Jeanne-Mance Building
161 Goldenrod Driveway, Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9
By email: ar-cr@canada.ca
By phone: 613-957-1052 or 1-800-815-0506
By fax: 613-957-3495

Appendix A: Elimination of fee deferrals and remissions

Health Canada no longer offers fee deferrals or remissions for applications received on or after April 1, 2020. Prior to April 1, 2020, fee deferrals were available for applicants who had not completed their first calendar year of conducting activities under a DEL, and fee remissions were applicable in instances where gross revenues from product sales under the DEL met a certain percentage threshold. While Health Canada continues to honour existing fee deferrals and remissions for some applications received prior to April 1, 2020, these mechanisms are no longer available.

Please contact the Cost Recovery Invoicing Unit if your application remains under fee deferral and you have any questions about that status.

Appendix B: Examples of how DEL fees for foreign buildings are calculated for each application type

Example 1. New DEL Application or Reinstatement

The following scenario walks through a new DEL application or a reinstatement application and its associated fees related to foreign buildings. The application profile is for human drugs.

Snapshot of the application:

Foreign buildings listed on the application
Domestic buildings listed on the application Finished Dosage Forms (FDF) Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Total number of foreign buildings Total number of unique foreign buildings Timing for when the fees for the unique foreign buildings are payable
Domestic Building A 3 0 5 4

Foreign buildings subject to fees

** Two foreign buildings are located at the same address so only one of them will be counted for fee purposes

 Upon receipt of new DEL application or reinstatement application
Domestic Building B 0 2

Example 2. Application for an amendment to add a domestic building to a DEL

The following scenario walks through an amendment application to add a domestic building to an existing DEL. The application profile is for human drugs.

Snapshot of the application:

Foreign buildings listed on the application
New Domestic buildings listed on the application Finished Dosage Forms (FDF) Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Total number of foreign buildings Total number of unique foreign buildings Timing for when the fees for the unique foreign buildings are payable
Domestic Building C (importer) 2 2 4 4

Foreign buildings subject to fees

 Fees payable at ALR

Example 3. Annual Licence Review

The following scenario walks through an annual licence application submitted by an existing DEL holder and the associated fees related to foreign buildings. The application profile is for human drugs.

Snapshot of the Application:

Foreign buildings listed on the application
Domestic buildings listed on the ALR application to be maintained on the licence in the next fiscal year Finished Dosage Forms (FDF) Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Total number of foreign buildings Total number of unique foreign buildings Timing for when the fees for the unique foreign buildings are payable
Domestic Building C (importer) 3 0 5 4

Foreign buildings subject to fees

* One foreign building holds both FDF and API so it will be counted once only

 Fees payable at current ALR
Domestic Building B (importer) 0 2

Footnotes

Footnote 1

Refers to the period determined by a business for calculating its annual ("yearly") financial statements for tax purposes or other annual reporting responsibilities.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, 2016. Hardwiring Sensitivity to Small Business Impacts of Regulation: Guide for the Small Business Lens https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/federal-regulatory-management/guidelines-tools/guide-small-business-lens.html

Return to footnote 2 referrer

Footnote 3

Note that performance for all applications filed prior to April 1, 2020, will continue to be monitored rigorously and processed.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

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