Exporting olive oil to Canada. Extra virgin has to stay extra virgin until the best-before date.
In Canada, olive oil is one of the foods where the CFIA hunts for fraud. And it asks the importer to prove that extra virgin stays extra virgin until the best-before date.
The CFIA tests olive oil for authenticity. In its notice to industry of 24 April 2025, it says it has a testing programme for authenticity and added oils, and that its surveillance keeps finding non-compliance. Adding another oil or pomace oil is adulteration.
The importer asks the olive mill for evidence. Among the measures the CFIA expects in the importer's plan are checks on the foreign supplier's controls and valid assurances, such as certificates of analysis. The declared grade must meet the requirements for the product's whole shelf life.
The oil's name follows Canadian rules. “Extra virgin” and “virgin” can only be used if the oil meets the standards of the International Olive Council and the Codex. Pomace oil is called “olive pomace oil” or “olive residual oil”: “sansa oil” isn't accepted.
This page is part of exporting olive oil, and covers the Canadian market. The importer's licence, its control plan and the CETA origin declaration, which apply to every food, are in exporting food to Canada.
How to export olive oil to Canada: what the CFIA looks at
Exporting olive oil to Canada comes down to three things the CFIA spells out: the oil must be genuine, with no other oils and no pomace oil; the declared grade must hold until the best-before date; and the name on the label must follow the international standards and the Canadian names.
| Point | What the CFIA requires | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Authenticity | No other oil and no pomace oil in a product sold as olive oil. | Notice of 24 April 2025 |
| Evidence | Checks on the foreign supplier, certificates of analysis, product testing. | Notice of 24 April 2025 |
| Shelf life | The declared grade holds for the product's whole shelf life. | Notice of 24 April 2025 |
| Name | Extra virgin and virgin under IOC and Codex; pomace as “olive pomace oil”. | CFIA, fats and oils |
Olive oil and fraud: the CFIA notice of 24 April 2025
The CFIA considers adding any other oil, or pomace oil, to a product sold as olive oil to be adulteration. In its notice to industry of 24 April 2025, it says it has a testing programme for olive oil authenticity and for added vegetable oils, and that its surveillance keeps finding non-compliance.
“The addition of any other oil, or olive pomace oil, to a product represented as olive oil is considered adulteration.” (CFIA, notice to industry of 24 April 2025)
The consequences are set out in the same notice: the CFIA can detain the product, have it destroyed, order it removed from Canada, impose administrative monetary penalties, prosecute, and suspend or cancel the importer's licence. That's why a serious Canadian importer asks for analyses before the first order, not after.
What the Canadian importer asks the olive mill for
The Canadian importer has to have a preventive control plan, and the CFIA expects it to include measures for the oil's safety and against false or misleading representation. Among the measures it lists are checks on the foreign supplier's controls, valid assurances such as certificates of analysis, and product testing.
For the olive mill, this means turning up with the lot's certificates of analysis ready. The request will come anyway, because it stems from the importer's plan, and answering straight away shortens the negotiation. The question to ask is which parameters they want tested, by which lab and on which sample.
Extra virgin has to stay extra virgin until the best-before date
For the CFIA, the declared grade, such as “extra virgin” or “virgin”, must meet the requirements of that grade for the product's whole shelf life. An oil that's extra virgin at bottling but no longer within the parameters by its best-before date is a non-compliant label.
The practical consequence is for the date you print on the label and for the journey. The more months between arrival in Canada and the best-before date, the longer the oil has to stay in its grade on the shelf. The downloadable sheet works out how many months of shelf life a lot has left when it reaches the importer.
The name on the label: extra virgin, virgin and olive pomace oil
In Canada, olive oil comes from the fruit of the olive tree, Olea europaea L. The terms “extra virgin” and “virgin” are used only if the oil meets the standards of the International Olive Council and Codex CXS 33-1981, and “extra virgin” is allowed only for olive oil, not for other vegetable oils.
Pomace oil has two accepted names, “olive pomace oil” and “olive residual oil”. “Sansa oil” isn't accepted. The common name goes in English and French, as for every food in Canada, while fats and oils sold as such are always exempt from the front-of-package nutrition symbol (Food and Drug Regulations, B.01.350(5)(i)).
The Canadian label comes on top of the European marketing standards, described in the main guide to olive oil. The differences between markets are in export labelling, market by market.
The template, to download
One file, two sheets. The first is the checklist, with the CFIA page next to each line and a drop-down status to fill in. The second takes the bottling date, the months to best-before and the expected arrival, and tells you how many months of shelf life the oil has left when it enters the importer's warehouse.
| File | Contents | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Olive oil to CanadaExcel, two sheets | Eleven checklist lines with their sources, and the remaining shelf life on arrival. |
The files are free. There's no form in the way, we don't ask for an email address, and we don't get notified when anyone downloads them. The sheet can't tell you whether your oil will hold up until the best-before date: only an analysis can.
Questions and answers
What do you need to export olive oil to Canada?
A Canadian importer with a Safe Food for Canadians licence and a preventive control plan, certificates of analysis for the lot, a bilingual label naming the oil according to Canadian rules, and the CETA origin declaration for preferential tariff treatment.
The CFIA monitors olive oil authenticity with a testing programme, and requires the declared grade to hold for the product's whole shelf life.
Does the CFIA check imported olive oil?
Yes. In its notice to industry of 24 April 2025, the CFIA says it has a testing programme for olive oil authenticity and for added vegetable oils, and that its surveillance keeps finding non-compliance.
Adding another oil or pomace oil to a product sold as olive oil is adulteration. The consequences range from detaining the product to penalties and cancelling the importer's licence.
Does extra virgin olive oil exported to Canada have to stay extra virgin until its best-before date?
Yes. For the CFIA, the declared grade, such as extra virgin or virgin, must meet the requirements of that grade for the product's whole shelf life, not just at bottling.
That's why it pays to know how many months of shelf life a lot has left when it reaches the importer, and to ask the lab for an analysis that takes that period into account.
What is pomace oil called on a Canadian label?
Olive pomace oil or olive residual oil. The CFIA lists these two names as acceptable for oil obtained from olive residues, and says sansa oil isn't accepted.
The common name also goes in French, as for every food sold in Canada.
Does olive oil in Canada need the front-of-package nutrition symbol?
No. Paragraph B.01.350(5)(i) of the Food and Drug Regulations always exempts fats and oils from the front-of-package nutrition symbol when they're sold as such, for example a bottle of olive oil.
The exemption covers the front symbol; the rest of the label follows Canadian rules.
Notes on sources
- CFIA, notice to industry on olive oil compliance, 24 April 2025: adulteration, the testing programme, the importer's measures, grade for the whole shelf life, enforcement tools. The quotation is word for word.
- CFIA, labelling requirements for fats and oils, page modified on 10 November 2025: oil from the fruit of the olive tree, extra virgin and virgin under IOC and Codex CXS 33-1981, the names for pomace oil, the front-of-package nutrition symbol exemption (B.01.350(5)(i)).
- The sources were read on 25 September 2026. No figures on the non-compliance the CFIA has found: the notice doesn't publish any.
In Canada, the first question is which analyses the importer wants.
Their control plan decides what they'll ask you for. Having the analyses ready before the offer is worth more than one extra sample. At Itria we start from the outside and build tailored digital systems for exporters. For you, that means more enquiries, fewer losses and less manual work. Drop us a line about what's slowing you down. We'll make the first move: we'll look at what a buyer sees when they search for you, and tell you what we found. Even if we never end up working together.