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Before an NPN product licence application can be filed, every ingredient in your formulation must be listed and correctly classified in Health Canada's Natural Health Products Ingredient Database (NHPID). QSS reviews your ingredient list against the NHPID and prepares and submits any new ingredient requests to the NNHPD, ensuring your formulation is fully admissible before your application goes in.
The NHPID is Health Canada's centralized database of ingredients permitted for use in licensed natural health products. It contains tens of thousands of medicinal and non-medicinal ingredient entries, each with specific classifications, permitted purposes, preparation methods, and restrictions. Before the NNHPD accepts an NPN application for review, every ingredient in your formulation must already exist in the database and be classified appropriately for its intended use within your product.
An ingredient database submission may be required when: the ingredient does not yet exist in the NHPID; it is listed but under an incorrect classification, function, or preparation method; the source, part used, or route of administration differs from the existing entry; or the ingredient only appears as part of a combination rather than as a standalone entry.
Health Canada's typical processing time for a new ingredient submission is 6 to 8 weeks from the date of submission. Identifying and addressing ingredient gaps early is one of the most important steps in preventing avoidable delays to your NPN licensing timeline.
We review your full ingredient list against the current NHPID to identify ingredients are missing, incorrectly classified, or listed under a function that does not match your intended use. This assessment determines what needs to be resolved before your product licence application can proceed.
We prepare your new ingredient submission for the NNHPD, ensuring the ingredient is correctly identified, classified as medicinal or non-medicinal, and supported by the documentation Health Canada requires to evaluate the request.
We submit the new ingredient request to Health Canada on your behalf and manage the review through to confirmation, including any follow-up from the NNHPD during the 6 to 8 week processing window.
Where a medicinal ingredient in your formulation appears in the NHPID only as a constituent of another ingredient, we assess whether a standalone entry is needed and manage the submission accordingly.
Once your ingredients are confirmed in the NHPID, QSS supports the full NPN product licence application from preparation through submission.
If you supply active ingredients to NHP manufacturers, an NHP Master File lets you provide your data directly to Health Canada without disclosing it to your customers.
The NHPID is Health Canada’s database of ingredients used in licensed natural health products. It contains tens of thousands of medicinal and non-medicinal ingredient entries. All ingredients in an NHP product must be present in the NHPID and correctly classified before a product licence application can be filed. The database is maintained by the Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD).
Health Canada requires that all ingredients in your NHP product be listed and admissible in the NHPID before a product licence application can be prepared for submission. If an ingredient is missing, improperly classified, or not listed under the intended function or preparation method, the application cannot proceed until that is resolved through a formal ingredient database submission request to the NNHPD.
A new ingredient submission may be required when:
A medicinal ingredient is a substance intended to provide a therapeutic effect, such as supporting a health benefit or modifying an organic function. Health Canada further defines a medicinal ingredient as a substance that contributes to the pharmacological activity or direct effect of a product.
A non-medicinal ingredient is included for formulation purposes — such as stability, flavour, colour, preservation, or manufacturing functionality — and is not intended to provide a therapeutic effect. Both must be listed in the NHPID before a product licence application is submitted.
No. An NHPID listing confirms that an ingredient is admissible for use in a natural health product application. Health Canada’s assessment of product safety, efficacy, and compliance occurs separately during the NPN product licence application review process.
Health Canada’s typical processing time is 6 to 8 weeks from the date of a complete submission. Submissions that are accurate and complete at the time of filing move through this window more efficiently than those that require multiple clarification requests from the NNHPD.