I stood at Kim Chen’s kitchen counter, watching her nervously eye the electrical outlet above her sink—the same model of GFCI outlet now subject to a nationwide recall. Three weeks earlier, she’d smelled something burning and found the plastic faceplate warm to the touch.
“I always thought these were supposed to be the safe ones,” she said, gesturing to the small rectangular outlet with its distinctive “Test” and “Reset” buttons. “The electrician charged me extra for these when we renovated last year.”
Kim’s experience isn’t isolated. Health Canada issued an expanded recall notice yesterday for certain GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) outlets sold between January 2022 and June 2025 at hardware stores and electrical supply companies across the country. The recall affects approximately 246,000 units sold under multiple brand names, including PowerGuard, SafeCircuit, and ElectraSafe.
According to Health Canada’s alert, the outlets can overheat during normal use, potentially causing electrical arcing, melting of the plastic housing, and in some cases, residential fires. The agency has documented 37 incidents resulting in property damage, with three cases involving minor injuries from smoke inhalation or burns.
Walking through Kim’s Vancouver townhouse, she pointed out five more of the recalled outlets scattered throughout her home. “They’re in both bathrooms, the basement, garage, and outside on the deck. Basically anywhere there’s water,” she explained.
That placement is by design. GFCI outlets are specifically engineered to prevent electrical shock in areas where water might be present. Unlike standard outlets, they constantly monitor electricity flowing through a circuit and can shut off power in milliseconds if they detect an imbalance—such as might occur if someone touches a faulty appliance while standing in water.
Dr. Maryam Khalid, an electrical engineer at the University of British Columbia who studies consumer product safety, explained the technical failure behind the recall when I called her.
“The problem appears to be with a specific batch of internal components that deteriorate prematurely,” she said. “When the sensing mechanism fails, not only does it lose its protective function, but it can actually create excess heat within the outlet itself—exactly the kind of hazard these devices are meant to prevent.”
The recall notice affects products with date codes between 2201 (January 2022) and 2506 (June 2025). Consumers can locate this information on the back of the outlet or sometimes stamped on the side of the device.
Health Canada is advising homeowners to check their GFCI outlets immediately. If the outlets match recalled models, the agency recommends turning off power to the circuit at the breaker box before inspecting further.
When I visited Raven’s Hardware in East Vancouver, assistant manager Taylor Wong was already fielding questions from concerned customers.
“We pulled all the affected inventory yesterday, but honestly, we’ve sold hundreds of these in the past couple years,” Wong said, showing me a printout of affected model numbers they keep at the customer service desk. “Most people don’t remember what brand they bought, so we’re telling everyone how to check.”
Wong demonstrated how to safely remove an outlet cover to check the manufacturing information. “You absolutely need to cut power at the breaker first,” he emphasized. “That’s non-negotiable.”
For Kim Chen, the recall process has been frustrating. After identifying her affected outlets, she contacted the manufacturer using the number provided in the recall notice.
“They said replacement outlets would arrive in 4-6 weeks, but they couldn’t tell me whether an electrician’s installation would be covered,” she sighed. “In the meantime, they suggested I could use the breaker to turn off power to those outlets, which isn’t exactly practical for my bathroom and kitchen.”
The Canadian Electrical Safety Authority estimates that GFCI outlets prevent hundreds of electrocutions annually. First introduced in the 1970s, they became mandatory in new construction for bathrooms in the 1980s, and requirements have expanded to include kitchens, basements, garages, and outdoor receptacles.
This isn’t the first time GFCI outlets have been recalled in Canada. A similar recall in 2019 affected approximately 75,000 units, though that incident involved failure to trip during ground fault conditions rather than fire hazards.
Firefighter and public education officer Jasmine Kaur from Vancouver Fire Rescue Services told me that electrical fires account for roughly 13% of residential fires they respond to annually.
“What makes electrical fires particularly dangerous is that they often start inside walls where they can smolder undetected,” Kaur explained. “By the time occupants notice, the fire may already be well-established.”
Kaur recommends that in addition to checking for recalled products, homeowners should consider installing smoke detectors with sealed 10-year batteries, especially near electrical panels and major appliances.
For those discovering they have recalled outlets, manufacturers are offering various remedies including replacement products, installation reimbursement, and in some cases, compensation for property damage.
“The recall response should be proportional to the risk,” said consumer advocate Martin Desjardins when I reached him by phone. “In this case, with documented fires, companies should be covering not just the replacement parts but also installation costs.”
After spending an afternoon with Kim as she documented her outlets and navigated the recall process, I asked what she planned to do while waiting for replacements.
“I’ve turned off the breakers to the outdoor outlets and garage for now,” she said. “For the kitchen and bathrooms, I bought some alternative GFCI outlets from a different manufacturer and I’m having an electrician come tomorrow. I can’t wait weeks with my family potentially at risk.”
As she showed me out, Kim offered a final thought: “You know, we renovated specifically to make our home safer. Never occurred to me that the safety devices themselves could be the danger.”
To check if your GFCI outlets are affected by the recall, visit Health Canada’s recall database or contact the Canadian Electrical Safety Authority’s consumer hotline at 1-800-559-SAFE.
