Cordless window coverings and child safety: the rules in Canada and the US

Updated October 22, 2026

The short version: cords on blinds and shades can strangle young children, and both countries regulate them. Canada’s rules have applied to everything sold since May 1, 2021. The US rules for custom products are being rewritten after a 2023 court decision. Shutters have no cords at all.

Why the rules exist

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission counted 46 deaths of infants and young children from window covering cords between 2014 and 2019, about eight a year^[3]. Its 2022 rule cited 209 fatal and near-miss strangulations of children aged 8 and under from 2009 to 2021, 100 of them fatal, and called those minimum figures^[4]. In its 2026 proposal it counted 73 incidents from 2018 to 2025, including 18 deaths from pull cords on horizontal blinds and 7 from continuous loops^[6]. It also concluded that “reliance on parental supervision and warning labels are inadequate to address the risk of injury”^[6].

That last line is the one to sit with. The rules don’t exist because parents are careless; they exist because nobody can watch a child every minute, and a cord only needs one.

Canada: the Corded Window Coverings Regulations

Canada’s regulations came into force on May 1, 2021, replacing the earlier corded window covering rules^[1][2]. For any cord a child can reach:

• A cord with a free end “must not exceed 22 cm in length” when pulled in any direction with a force of 35 newtons^[1].
• A loop, whether it’s there already or created by pulling, can’t be more than 44 cm around^[1].
• Two free ends that can be joined count as a loop and must meet the same limits^[1].
• Cords that can’t be reached must stay that way for the life of the product^[1].

Every product also has to carry a “STRANGULATION HAZARD” warning in English and French, on the product, the packaging, the instructions and its advertising, telling you to remove it if a longer cord or a bigger loop ever becomes reachable^[1].

The US: where things stand

• Stock products. A 2022 rule made cord hazards on stock (off-the-shelf) window coverings a substantial product hazard, alongside inner cords on stock and custom products and missing manufacturer labels^[6].
• Custom products, 2022. A separate rule required operating cords on custom window coverings made after May 30, 2023 to be eliminated, made inaccessible, or limited to 8 inches^[4].
• Vacated, 2023. On September 12, 2023 the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated that custom rule, finding the Commission had breached notice-and-comment requirements^[5].
• Proposed, 2026. On September 24, 2026 the Commission proposed treating several custom cord designs as substantial product hazards: free-hanging operating cords longer than 8 inches, exposed continuous loops on custom horizontal blinds, single retractable cords with a stroke longer than 36 inches, and cord loop lifts on roll-up shades, among others. Written comments are due November 23, 2026^[6].

So in the US today, a made-to-measure blind or shade can still come with cords that wouldn’t be allowed in Canada. If you’re ordering custom coverings in the US, ask for cordless, and get it in writing.

Four questions to ask before you order a custom blind or shade in the US, with the answers written on the quote:

1. Does it have an operating cord at all? If yes, how long does it hang? The 2026 proposal would treat a free-hanging operating cord over 8 inches on a custom product as a hazard^[6].
2. Is there a continuous loop, and what anchors it? An anchor that’s supplied but never fitted doesn’t help^[3].
3. Can the inner cords be pulled out into a loop? Ask to see the cord stops on a sample^[3].
4. Is this exact product certified? If the seller says “Best for Kids”, ask whether the label covers the model and options you’re ordering^[8].

Which coverings have cords, and what to check

“Cordless” on a box doesn’t always mean there are no cords inside. Most blinds and shades still lift on inner cords running through the slats or fabric; cordless means you lift by hand instead of with a pull cord. The Commission’s 2026 proposal is a useful map of where the risky cords are, because it names them product by product^[6].

Labels that mean something

In Canada, every corded window covering sold has to carry the bilingual “STRANGULATION HAZARD” warning, so its absence on a corded product is a warning in itself^[1]. In both countries you’ll also see “Best for Kids”, a certification the industry launched. Products are tested by an independent lab (the program names Bureau Veritas and Intertek), and to qualify a product must have no cords, or no operating cords and inner cords a child can’t reach or pull into a hazardous loop. In the program’s words, “Breakaways, tie-downs, and cleats do not qualify”^[8].

That’s a fair standard to shop by for blinds and shades. Shutters sit outside it, because there’s no cord to certify.

A room-by-room check

The Commission’s advice for corded coverings you already own^[3]:

• Replace them with products described as cordless.
• Until you can, make pull cords as short as possible and keep all cords out of reach.
• Check that cord stops are fitted and adjusted to limit the inner lift cords.
• Anchor continuous-loop cords for blinds and drapes to the floor or wall.
• “Move all cribs, beds, furniture and toys away from windows and window covering cords, preferably to another wall.”

Health Canada’s advice is the same in fewer words: “it is best to replace corded window coverings with ones that are cordless”, and “Never place a crib, playpen, bed or any type of furniture near a window where there is a blind cord”^[7].

Do this in every room a child spends time in, not only the nursery: grandparents’ houses, the playroom, the basement family room. Furniture near a window is a climbing route to whatever hangs there.

A twenty-minute cord check, step by step

1. Walk every room at a toddler’s height. Kneel. Any cord, loop or bead chain you can reach from there, a child can too.
2. Pull each reachable cord. In Canada the limit for a free cord is 22 cm when pulled^[1]. A cord much longer than a ruler is a candidate for replacement, wherever you live.
3. Pull the slats apart on lift-cord blinds. If you can draw an inner cord out into a loop, the cord stop is missing or set wrong^[3].
4. Look at what’s under each window. A bed, a sofa back, a toy box or a dresser is a step up. Move it to another wall where you can^[3].
5. List what to replace, in order. Where children sleep first, then where they play unwatched, then everywhere else.

What replacing them costs, room by room

Most families don’t replace every blind at once, and they don’t have to. As an example, a family room with one 72 × 60 in window and a playroom with two 48 × 48 in windows, in our basic build (flat moulding, paint stage 1, 3½ in louvers), from today’s price list:

• The family room window: $810 – $990 in the US, $1,160 – $1,420 CAD in Canada.
• The two playroom windows: $860 – $1,060 in the US, $1,230 – $1,520 CAD in Canada.

Cordless blinds cost less than that, and they’re a real answer to the cord problem. Shutters cost more because they’re made to measure in wood and last a long time; the comparison is in shutters vs blinds. For the nursery itself, see shutters for nurseries and kids’ rooms. Price your own windows in the designer.

Where shutters fit

Shutters tilt by hand, with a tilt rod or, on hidden-tilt panels, by moving any louver. There are no lift cords, pull cords or loops, so none of the rules above apply to them. That doesn’t make a window safe on its own: keep the crib and furniture away from it, fit window guards or stops where they’re needed, and teach older children not to swing on open panels.

If you’re replacing corded blinds room by room, the bedrooms are the place to start. Bedroom shutters, and how shutters compare with cordless blinds.