The contents of a suspicious letter that shut down the Canadian Embassy in Paris Monday morning are not hazardous and likely not linked to an employee falling ill, French authorities have said.

"The alert is over," Florent Hivert, deputy spokesman for the Paris fire brigade, told reporters.

Rescue workers in white protective jumpsuits stand outside the Canadian Embassy in Paris after reports of a suspicous package.
(Jacques Brinon/Associated Press)

French police called off an alert after issuing an NRBC directive to investigate threats of nuclear, radioactive, biological or chemical contamination at the embassy.

Hivert said it was not known what was inside the parcel, "but it's not a toxic substance."

Earlier Monday morning, French police wearing hazmat suits ordered the evacuation of the Canadian Embassy after an employee fell ill after opening a suspicious package sent to the building.

Police were investigating the possibility the package and the employee's sudden illness were linked. The Canadian embassy employee reportedly fell ill shortly after receiving the mysterious package in the mail.

Police cordoned off the street leading to the embassy and onlookers watched investigators stream in and out of the building in white, protective jumpsuits. Members of the public were ordered to keep at a distance behind a police line.

With files from the Associated Press