Here’s why 15,000 hedge trimmers are being recalled in Canada

Cordless hedge trimmers sold in Canada recalled due to laceration hazards. (Handout)

Hundreds of thousands of Ryobi-branded cordless hedge trimmers sold in Canada and the U.S. have been recalled due to laceration hazards, prompting warnings from health and consumer agencies in both countries.

Health Canada issued a joint recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (US CPSC) and Techtronic Industries (TTI) Outdoor Power Equipment Inc. on Thursday for select Ryobi 24-inch, 40V cordless hedge trimmers.

“The hedge trimmer blade can unexpectedly activate after pressing just the safety or trigger control individually rather than engaging the safety and trigger controls simultaneously, posing a potential laceration hazard,” the alert said.

According to Health Canada, as of May 27, TTI Outdoor Power Equipment has received one incident report and one finger laceration report in Canda. Approximately 15,000 units were sold in Canada between March 2021 to January 2025.

The affected trimmers only have model numbers RY40620VNM, RY40602VNM and RY40602BTLVNM and serial numbers within ranges LT21091D180001 to LT22365D060025 and RG23125N250001 to RG24252D101110. Consumers can find the model and serial information on the product’s data plate located on the trimmer’s bottom.

Health Canada urges consumers to “immediately stop using” the affected products and visit the company’s website to see if their trimmer is in the recall.

Consumers can receive a free replacement trimmer.

Larger recall in the U.S.

The recall is more significant in the U.S., where the CPSC reported the same day that more than 110,000 units are affected.

According to the CPSC, the company received 27 reports of the blade activating after pressing just one of the controls including 16 injury reports that resulted in minor and some severe lacerations.