| #Q001 | administrative | health | unknown | Chemical Prioritization Cycle | drinking water | Health Canada identifies chemical priorities in drinking water every four to five years. | | medium |
| #Q002 | administrative | unknown | guidance | New Information Submission Permission | drinking water | New information can be in putted into the process at any time. | | medium |
| #Q003 | administrative | health | unknown | Chemical Prioritization - Step 1: Data Gathering | drinking water | Health Canada compiles an initial list of chemicals based on any the following: * chemicals with guidelines older than six years * chemicals with new scientific information or international reviews * input and requests from provinces, territories and other federal departments (e.g., water monitoring data, Canadian sales and use reports for pesticides, etc.) * updates to drinking water quality standards and guidelines in other countries or by international agencies, such as the World Health Organization | Step 1 of the chemical prioritization process | medium |
| #Q004 | administrative | health | unknown | Chemical Prioritization - Step 2: Screening | drinking water | Chemicals on the initial list are screened to see if there is enough data to determine whether: * exposure to the chemical could cause adverse health effects * the chemical is likely to be found in Canadian drinking water at levels that could cause adverse health effects * the chemical is likely to be found frequently and in a large number of Canadian drinking water supplies | Step 2 of the chemical prioritization process | medium |
| #Q005 | administrative | health | unknown | Chemical Prioritization - Step 3: Initial Prioritization | drinking water | Chemicals with enough data are prioritized as high or low for development of guidelines or screening values based on health risks as a function of toxicity and exposure. | Step 3 of the chemical prioritization process | medium |
| #Q006 | administrative | health | unknown | Chemical Prioritization - Step 4: Final Prioritization | drinking water | The chemicals that were determined to be high risk to health or "needing more data" are sorted into four groups for priority assessment taking into consideration the ability to measure a chemical and remove it from drinking water, and federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) needs. | Step 4 of the chemical prioritization process | medium |
| #Q007 | administrative | unknown | unknown | Problem Formulation Preparation | drinking water | As substances are assessed, Health Canada prepares problem formulations. | | medium |
| #Q008 | reporting | reporting | guidance | Problem Formulation Availability | drinking water | Problem formulations are available on request. | | medium |
| #Q009 | administrative | health | unknown | Microbiological Contaminants Review Process | drinking water | For microbiological contaminants, it reviews new and updated evidence on an ongoing basis rather than a cyclical one because these contaminants pose greater and more immediate health risks than chemical ones. | | medium |
| #Q010 | monitoring | health | unknown | Radiological Contaminants Monitoring Process | drinking water | For radiological contaminants, Health Canada continuously monitors any scientific developments to determine if the guidelines need to be revisited. | | medium |
| #Q011 | administrative | operational | unknown | Operational Factors Review Process | drinking water | Health Canada does ongoing reviews of new and updated information on operational factors affecting drinking water. | | medium |