Fairfield Herbals

07/07/2026

From BCHA

You don’t have to be a herbal practitioner—or even use herbal medicine yourself—to have a voice in this consultation.

Think about the people in your life. Someone managing a chronic health condition. The go-getter who is taking a proactive, preventative approach to health. A spouse. A parent. A grandparent. A child. A friend. A neighbour. A colleague.

Chances are you know someone who currently uses custom-compounded herbal medicine, works with a herbal practitioner or purchases self-care NHPs made by a small Canadian business.

This is about more than herbal medicine. It’s about preserving Canadians’ autonomy over choosing the kind of healthcare they want and ensuring access to a diverse range of options that reflect their individual needs and values.

Even if herbal medicine isn’t part of your own healthcare today, your perspective still matters. Healthcare choice affects all Canadians, and public policy is strongest when it reflects the voices of the people it serves.

Visit the link in the BCHA bio to learn more and access their summary + a letter template you can personalize then send to Health Canada.

The public consultation closes July 12, so get your email in ASAP.

07/07/2026

You might be wondering: is anyone pushing back on this?

Yes. We are.

The Alberta Herbalists Association (AHA) is a proud member of the Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations (CCHA) — the national umbrella organization representing professional herbalist associations across Canada. Together, we have:

✅ Reviewed both proposed NNHPD policy documents in detail
✅ Submitted a formal response letter to Health Canada identifying critical concerns and requesting specific changes
✅ Submitted an addendum to that letter strengthening our position on the four most serious issues
✅ Requested a direct meeting with the Director General of the NNHPD to discuss our concerns before the policies are finalized
✅ Engaged our provincial member associations in reviewing and endorsing our response

Our positions are clear: herbal practitioners must retain the right to dispense simples, to reconstitute preparations, to compound according to clinical judgment — not commercial product availability — and to import raw materials without being required to pre-justify their clinical decisions to federal regulators.

We are not asking for exemptions. We are asking for accurate recognition of what herbal compounding practice actually is.

And we need your voice alongside ours.

07/07/2026

Two more proposed changes deserve your attention — because they go to the heart of why herbal medicine works.

🌿 "Only compound if there's no commercial product available"
Health Canada's proposed compounding policy suggests that practitioners should only compound when there is a therapeutic need or a lack of authorized commercial product availability.

Read that again.

This would imply that if a health food store carries a version of something, your herbalist should be sending you there instead of preparing a remedy tailored specifically to you.

Herbal practitioners are not glorified health food store clerks. We are clinicians. The entire foundation of our practice is individualized care — formulas and preparations made for your body, your presentation, your needs. A prepackaged product, however well-made, cannot replicate that. The AHA and CCHA are firmly opposed to any policy language that erodes our right and responsibility to compound according to our clinical judgment.

🌿 Import documentation requirements
Herbal practitioners who import raw materials for use in their dispensaries have never needed a site licence — and the proposed policy maintains that exemption. But it also introduces new requirements: practitioners would need to declare their licence number, address, governing body, and the intended use and claims associated with every imported substance.

Health Canada already maintains official monographs for the majority of herbs used in practice. Requiring practitioners to justify their clinical use of well-documented herbs on every import shipment is regulatory overreach — and we've said so formally.

This is your herbal medicine. You deserve to know what's being proposed in its name.

07/07/2026

Let's talk about two things herbal practitioners do every single day — and why Health Canada's proposed policies put both of them at risk.

🌿 Dispensing a single herb (a "simple")
When your herbalist fills a bottle with a single-herb extract — say, a high-quality Echinacea tincture at 1:3 potency — calibrated to your specific dose following your consultation, that is a clinical act. It's compounding. The herb has been sourced, identified, prepared, and dispensed within a practitioner-patient relationship.

Health Canada's proposed policy suggests this may not qualify as compounding — which would strip it of the protections compounding practice carries.

Here's what that misses: the Echinacea you find on a health food store shelf is typically a 1:5 or 1:10 extract. Many of our practitioners carry 1:1, 1:2, or 1:3 preparations, grown or wildcrafted with verified plant identification and controlled preparation. These are not the same product. They cannot be substituted.

🌿 Reconstituting a powder with liquid
Health Canada is also proposing that adding liquid to a powder is merely a "direction of use" — not compounding. The CCHA and AHA firmly disagree. The ratio, the diluent, the concentration — these are clinical decisions made for a specific patient. That is compounding, full stop.

We have formally objected to both of these characterizations. More on that in Post 4.

07/07/2026

Something is happening right now at the federal level that every herbalist in Canada — and everyone who relies on herbal medicine — needs to know about.

Health Canada's Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate (NNHPD) has released two proposed policy documents: one on Natural Health Product Compounding, and one on Raw Materials. These policies will define what herbal practitioners are legally permitted to do in their dispensaries — including how we prepare, blend, and dispense remedies for our clients.

The Alberta Herbalists Association (AHA), alongside the Canadian Council of Herbalist Associations (CCHA), has reviewed these proposed policies carefully. We have serious concerns.

Over the next few days, we're going to break down exactly what's being proposed, why it matters, and what you can do before the public comment deadline of July 12, 2026.

This is not a drill. Stay with us. 🌿

06/08/2026

I don't post here often — but when I do, I want it to mean something.

I've spent the last several months putting together something I wish had existed when I first started working with women's health. It's a free guide called "Your Body Is Speaking. Here's Why You Can't Hear It." — and it's for any woman who has ever felt like a stranger in her own body.

Whether you're navigating your first painful cycles, a fertility struggle, the postpartum crash nobody warned you about, or a perimenopause that started earlier than anyone told you it would — this guide is for you.

It walks through what I call the Body Fluency Gap: the reason your body has been sending signals that nobody ever taught you to read. And it starts to give you the language to understand what it's been trying to say.

It's completely free. No catch.

Link in bio — or drop the word GUIDE in the comments and I'll send it directly to you. 🌿

09/14/2024

One of my absolute favorite activities is forest walks with my family! Today we spent two hours out in the woods, building a “fairy house” and enjoying the peace and each other’s company. We found high-bush cranberry (cramp bark), dogwood, mountain ash, Solomon’s Seal, wild sarsaparilla, nettles, burdock, goldenrod, silverberry, and so much more! So thankful for all the trails and parkland around Edmonton and fantastic people to share it with ❤️❤️❤️

07/04/2024

I’m not sure about growing aloe outside here, but all the rest of these lovely herbal allies grow wonderfully here in Edmonton’s zone 3-4a climate. They really are low maintenance, and a great addition to your home garden, for your health and for the pollinators! 🥰🌱

06/28/2024

Easy care plants for your home medicine garden! What are you growing? What do you want to grow?

06/28/2024