A new study has found that the number of product recalls in Canada skyrocketed last year, nearly doubling the number of recalls the year before and easily topping out the number of recalls in each of the last five years.

The recalls add up to 20 million products between 2002 and 2006, according to the report from the National Quality Institute.

"We found it's not just a made-in-China problem, it's also a Canadian problem. In fact, 32 per cent of the recalls were Canadian-made manufactured products, which was higher than those manufactured in China," Allan Ebedes, president and CEO of the National Quality Institute told Canada AM.

The study was done at the University of Calgary. It found the following key points:

  • The majority of product recalls have not caused injury or death and all are voluntary;
  • The results found that 69 per cent of the recalls during the past five years involved food, while toys represented 10 per cent;
  • Analysis of the country of origin of recall products for the past five years shows total recalls from Canadian-made products (32 per cent) are slightly higher than China (28 per cent);
  • Year-over-year analysis shows that from 2002, product recalls from Canadian products have decreased and recalls of products from China have increase.

Ebedes said the National Quality Institute commissioned the study over concerns that the number of recalls was increasing.

"It's a question of trust and consumer confidence, what can we buy, what's coming next, from toys to toothpaste to tires, batteries, what can we rely on these days?" Ebedes said.

"So we made a couple of recommendations, one of which is that it's a joint responsibility, it's not just a made-in-China problem. I think the designers, manufacturers, suppliers have to work together, and the whole supply chain management has to come together in terms of quality control processes."

There also needs to be greater coordination when it comes to alerting consumers about product recalls. Ebedes said there are currently several different government websites providing recall information, when there really only needs to be one centralized database for consumers.

But he said it's not all bad news. The rising number of product recalls suggests government product quality legislation is working.

"I think the increased legislation over the last several years, with labelling and other things, has been the result of more product recalls and manufacturers realize they've got to be more corporately responsible," Ebedes said.

Another positive finding is that while recalls of Canadian products are higher than most people might think, the numbers are going down as manufacturers realize the need for tighter quality control.

"I think the other good news is that for the most part the recalls haven't been critical. So the system is working but I think it can improve and certainly because the number of recalls are increasing. I think manufacturers, suppliers need to sit back and government has to get more involved. It's a matter of corporate policy."