Branding a Power Bank in Canada? Check the UL 2056 File First

Power banks sell themselves. They are useful, they get carried, and a logo on one gets seen for years rather than for an afternoon. They are also the item on a quote where a distributor is most likely to be asked a question they cannot answer off the top of their head: is this thing safe, and can you prove it?

Since February 2025 there has been a clean answer to that question in Canada, and it has a number: ANSI/CAN/UL 2056.

It is a Canadian standard now, not only an American one

UL 2056 has existed in some form since 2015, when UL published the first safety document written specifically for power banks rather than for the cell or the pack inside one. It was published as a full standard on 22 October 2024, and on 18 February 2025 it was approved by both ANSI and the Standards Council of Canada.

That second approval is the part worth knowing. It makes UL 2056 a binational standard — a National Standard of Canada as well as an American National Standard — so a distributor selling in Toronto and a distributor selling in Chicago are now working from the same rulebook for the same product. One test report answers for both sides of the border.

The short version of what it covers

The standard applies to standalone devices that carry a battery in order to power or recharge small electronics — power banks, portable USB chargers, portable back-up batteries. Input and output are rated to a maximum of 60 Vdc, which is roomy enough to include modern USB-C fast chargers, and the unit must be rated at no more than 100 watt-hours. The 2024 edition also widened the scope beyond lithium-ion to power banks of any battery chemistry.

What makes it the useful document is that it examines the finished product. A lab works through overcharge and over-discharge protection, short circuit, output overload, drop, impact, crush and temperature cycling, and it verifies that the capacity printed on the case is the capacity the unit actually delivers. That last item alone settles most of the arguments that start when a client says their giveaway "doesn't hold a charge".

Three documents to collect, and what each one is for

1. The UL 2056 test report

This is the product safety file. There is no UL 2056 sticker to look for — it is a standard that gets tested against, not a logo — so what you want is the report itself, and you want the model number on it to match the model number on your quote. Tooling families often share a look and not a circuit board.

2. The UN 38.3 test summary

This is the shipping file: the battery has passed the altitude, thermal, vibration, shock and short-circuit tests that allow it to be transported by air and road at all. It is essential, but it does not do the job of the first document. IATA's own March 2026 guidance to airlines says so directly: UN 38.3 "is not a consumer product safety standard".

3. The radio paperwork, if it has a radio

Wireless charging pads, Bluetooth speakers built into a power bank and anything that pairs with a phone bring FCC and ISED requirements with them. If it transmits, ask.

Wireless models deserve a second look

Magnetic and induction power banks are the fastest-moving part of this category and the newest, which is exactly why the aviation industry has flagged them. IATA's guidance singles out wireless power banks as an emerging concern: they are a recent innovation, easy to counterfeit, and often produced without a real quality programme or evidence of testing behind them. Nothing about that argues against quoting a wireless model — several of ours are excellent — but it does argue for asking for the file before you commit a client's budget to 500 of them.

What changed for anyone flying with one

On 27 March 2026, ICAO added a power bank addendum to its Technical Instructions, and it applies to passengers and crew alike. Power banks are now treated separately from spare batteries. They must travel in carry-on baggage, no more than two per person, they cannot be recharged on board, and passengers are advised not to use them to charge a device in flight. Each one has to be individually protected against short circuits when it is not in use.

Practically, this is a gift-guide point more than a compliance point. Anything from 5,000 to 20,000 mAh sits comfortably under the 100 Wh cabin limit — roughly 19 to 74 watt-hours — so a conference giveaway is in no danger. It is the oversized laptop bricks that need a second thought, and a printed watt-hour rating on the case is what lets a traveller settle the question at the gate.

Five things worth saying to your client

1. The standard to name is ANSI/CAN/UL 2056, and it is recognised in Canada and the United States.
2. Ask for the report; there is no mark on the product to look for.
3. UN 38.3 covers shipping the battery, not the safety of the finished power bank. Collect both.
4. Capacity verification is part of the test, so the report also protects the client from an inflated mAh claim.
5. Keep the capacity marking clear of the imprint area — it has to stay readable.

Stocked in Canada, or made to order

We keep power banks in the Markham warehouse for programmes that cannot wait on a production run, and we quote made-to-order models for programmes that can. Both routes come with the same request: ask us for the documentation while you are quoting, not after the shipment lands. Our compliance page lists what we can supply for battery items and how to ask for it.