On April 25, 2026, Canada published a new consultation in the Canada Gazette, Part I on April 25, 2026, concerning a proposed Order Amending the Export Control List (Amendments) under the Export and Import Permits Act. These amendments seek to continue to expand Canada’s unilateral controls under Group 5, Item 5506 of the Export Control List (ECL) in order to respond to growing risk of diversion for uses contrary to Canadian national security interests. The consultation period is 30 days, with comments due by May 25, 2026.
Additionally, the updated Guide to Canada’s Export Control List (Guide) enters into force on May 1, 2026 and brings the Guide into compliance with the commitments that Canada has made in its various multilateral export control regimes up to January 1, 2026. Key changes to the Guide include additions of controls on single transverse mode non-tunable continuous wave lasers (1-6.A.5.a.6.a.3), Certain helium turboexpanders (4-4.A.3), and 1,1,3,3-Tetraethylguanidine (7-4.1.vv). Certain controls were deleted under Items 1-3, 1-6, and 1-8. A summary of the changes is available here.
The Amendments
The Amendments would introduce new export controls on certain semiconductor-related technologies and advanced manufacturing items, and would streamline existing semiconductor‑related controls. The proposed Amendments expand export controls on the following transfers of tangible and intangible goods and technology outside Canada:
- Certain lithography equipment
- Certain epitaxial depositioning equipment
- Certain semiconductor manufacturing deposition equipment
- Circuit card assemblies, boards or modules that incorporate certain integrated circuits that can be reconfigured after manufacturing, referred to as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).
- High performance chips and computers/electronic assemblies that contain them. The proposed threshold is Total Processing Performance (TPP) of 6,000 or more, calculated as follows: 2 × MacTOPS × bit length of the operation aggregated over all processing units on the integrated circuit. Note that 2 x MacTOPS may correspond to the reported TOPS or FLOPS on a datasheet.
- 3D printing (i.e. additive manufacturing) powders that high entropy alloy or refractory metal and alloy powders having a surface modified with inoculants.
If adopted, exports of these items from Canada would generally require an individual export permit to destinations outside the United States. Importantly, there are no general export permits available for ECL Item No. 5506 (Other Strategic Goods and Technology – All Destinations Other than the United States) and multidestination export permits are not contemplated for this Item under the Export and brokering controls handbook.
Global Context
The amendments are intended to align Canada’s export control framework with measures being adopted by key allies and partners and to address perceived risks associated with the military or strategic use of advanced computing and manufacturing technologies.
Canadian Impact
These Amendments follow additional Items added to the ECL in 2024 and 2025 under Item 5506 targeting semiconductor manufacturing and quantum computing. Global Affairs Canada has indicated that it previously engaged with selected stakeholders, but is now seeking public input on the proposed amendments before finalizing the Order. While the Government’s preliminary assessment suggests that the direct impact on Canadian industry may be limited, the proposal could be relevant to organizations involved in manufacturing, exporting, R&D collaboration, technology licensing, or cross‑border transfers of controlled technical data in the semiconductor, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defence, or artificial intelligence sectors.
The Amendments should be read in conjunction with Global Affairs Canada’s more recent guidance on Guidance on the movement to and storage of controlled technology in the Cloud, which maps Canadian export permitting obligations onto transfers of controlled technology in a cloud computing context. The requirement to obtain individual export permits in relation to the technologies described in the Amendments may hinge on whether there is a “reasonable possibility that a person outside of Canada would be in a position to access of examine controlled technology” stored on a cloud server in Canada.
Consultation Process
Comments on the Amendments can be made online by creating a “My Gazette account”, instructions are available here. Comments will be published online. Organizations submitting comments will be identified by their organizational name. Individuals will be identified only as individuals. There is an option to post anonymously.
