TDG safety marks are in place to identify what the hazards of the dangerous goods are. This is important to everyone handling, shipping, transporting, and receiving dangerous goods. It is also extremely important to those that are emergency personnel responding to an accident or incident.

The Canadian TDG safety marks are part of an international system under the UN (United Nations). These symbols are recognized worldwide.

However, since Canada has two official languages (English and French) you may find some minor differences between Canadian safety marks and those of other countries. For instance, Canadian safety marks do not have wording unless it is a bilingual word, whereas some International labels and safety marks identify the description of the class/hazard right on the label.

In the case of labels, when importing dangerous goods into Canada, either label is acceptable. However, re-shipping domestically in Canada the shipper would either have to re-label each package or put a notation on their shipping document that they are complying with 49CFR (U.S.) and international labels. This is found in Part 9.4 of the TDG Regulations.

The TDG classes that are separated by divisions will have different types of safety marks. These were shown in the Classification section of this guide.

Example: Class 2 gases