Two tests, and they are different
Canada added two environmental claims provisions to the Competition Act. Paragraph 74.01(1)(b.1) deals with a product: a representation about a product's benefits for protecting or restoring the environment, or mitigating the causes or effects of climate change, must be based on adequate and proper testing. Paragraph 74.01(1)(b.2) deals with a business or a business activity: a representation about the environmental benefits of the business itself must be based on adequate and proper substantiation in accordance with internationally recognized methodology (Competition Bureau).
The second test is the harder one, and it is the one that applies to a cleaning company advertising itself as a green cleaning service rather than advertising a particular bottle. Internationally recognized, on the Bureau's reading, generally means recognized in two or more countries, and not necessarily by governments.
The burden sits with the advertiser, and it has to be discharged before the claim is made rather than after somebody complains. A company that says it is green because it likes the products it buys has not met either test.
Why eco-friendly is the weakest word on the label
The Bureau identifies overly broad language as a problem in itself, using eco-friendly as its example, because such a term can suggest environmental benefits across a product's entire life cycle when the actual benefit may be limited to one stage of it (Competition Bureau).
A narrow, specific and testable claim is both more useful to a customer and easier to defend. Plant-derived surfactants in the general-purpose cleaner. No added fragrance. Concentrates diluted on site to cut packaging. Cold-water laundering for microfibre. Each of those can be shown. Green cannot.
As a customer, the question that separates a real practice from a marketing line is simple: which specific products, and what are the certifications on them. A company doing this seriously answers with names. A company that is not changes the subject to how much it cares about the environment.
The one certification that covers a cleaning service
Most environmental certifications in this field certify products. Green Seal's GS-42 standard is different: it sets requirements for cleaning service providers of commercial, public and institutional buildings, and it certifies the service provider rather than the products, covering both in-house and external cleaning services while excluding residential properties and specialty-only services such as window washing (Green Seal).
What it actually demands gives a useful picture of what a serious operation looks like. Written building-specific cleaning plans with standard operating procedures, schedules for routine, periodic and restorative work, and building details including where vulnerable populations and hazardous materials are, reviewed annually and made available to cleaning personnel and clients. Only third-party certified environmentally preferable products for general cleaners, floor finishes, hand soaps and paper products. Equipment performance requirements, including vacuum cleaners that hold the Carpet and Rug Institute Seal of Approval and operate below 70 decibels. Training of 12 hours initially with a further 12 hours within the first year and 24 hours annually thereafter. Quarterly tracking of product purchases, per-employee training records and equipment maintenance logs.
For a small Ottawa cleaning company that level of documentation may be out of reach, and that is not a scandal. The point of reading the standard is to know what to ask for. A contractor who can produce a written site-specific plan and name their certified products is operating in the spirit of it whether or not they hold the certificate.
Green is not the same as harmless, and the law knows the difference
A product being environmentally preferable says nothing about whether it is hazardous to the person using it. Plenty of plant-derived and low-impact cleaners are strongly acidic or alkaline, and concentrates are more hazardous than the ready-to-use dilutions most households buy.
That is where WHMIS applies. Ontario's guide states that the legislation applies to all workplaces covered by the Occupational Health and Safety Act with the exception of farms, and that employers must ensure hazardous products are properly labelled, obtain safety data sheets from suppliers and keep them accessible in the workplace, and provide instruction and training to workers about the hazardous products they use (Ontario).
For a commercial client that gives a concrete test of whether a contractor is well run: ask for the safety data sheets for everything brought into your building. It is a request the contractor's supplier fulfils as a matter of course, so a contractor who cannot produce them has told you something about their training and their record keeping, not just their paperwork.
Cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting are three jobs
Most surfaces in most homes need cleaning, which means removing soil. Disinfecting is a separate step with a separate purpose and it is over-used, partly because the products were heavily marketed through the pandemic years and partly because it sounds more thorough.
Where disinfection genuinely is needed, the product matters and it is checkable. Health Canada's guidance directs users to locate the drug identification number on the disinfectant product label and search that number against the relevant list, which is how you confirm a product is authorised in Canada rather than simply imported and relabelled (Health Canada).
Two further points that belong on any cleaning company's training sheet. A disinfectant only works if it stays wet on the surface for the contact time printed on the label, and wiping it off immediately achieves nothing. And products must never be mixed: chlorine bleach with an acid or with ammonia produces toxic gas, and a bathroom is a small room. A contractor whose staff know both of those things is better trained than one whose marketing mentions the environment more often than the label.
What to ask, in one list
Which specific products do you use, and what third-party certification do they carry. Is your environmental claim about the products or about your business, because the second needs substantiation in accordance with internationally recognized methodology. Can I see the safety data sheets. Do you hold GS-42, and if not, can you give me a written site-specific cleaning plan. Where do you disinfect rather than clean, and what is the contact time on that product. What is your fragrance policy, since scent is the most common complaint in shared offices.
None of this requires a licence, because no licence exists for cleaning in Ontario. It requires a contractor who can name things. The ability to answer with product names, certification names and documents is the closest thing to a credential this trade has.