Acts and Regulations

Health Canada administers many pieces of legislation and develops and enforces regulations under this legislation that have a direct impact on the health and safety of Canadians. The Department consults with the Canadian public, industry, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other interested parties in the development of these laws. Health Canada also prepares guidelines in order to help interpret and clarify legislation and regulations.

What are We Doing?

As a department, Health Canada is responsible for administering acts and regulations, and for implementing government-wide regulatory initiatives.

Acts and Regulations

Health Canada is responsible for administering certain federal acts and regulations.

Access these federal acts and regulations at the following link: Health Canada list of acts and regulations.

Incorporation by reference

Health Canada is committed to the principles of transparency, reasonableness, consistency in the decision-making process, and clarity and accessibility of content and their alignment when using incorporation by reference in regulations.

Planned or anticipated changes to regulations (Forward Regulatory Plan, stock review plan, targeted Regulatory Review Sectoral Roadmap)

Health Canada publishes a public list, with descriptions, of planned or anticipated federal regulatory changes that the department intends to bring forward over a 24-month period (Forward Regulatory Plan).

Health Canada's stock review plan, which is the department's plan to review its entire regulatory stock over a set period of time. The stock review plan includes:

  • a list of regulations that will undergo a review, prioritized in a way that makes sense to the regulator and stakeholders
  • a time frame for the review(s)

View the Forward Regulatory Plan and the Stock Review Plan

Health Canada participated in the Targeted Regulatory Reviews focused on the health and biosciences, and the agri-food and aquaculture sectors to identify and address regulatory barriers to economic growth and innovation.

Timeliness Service Standards and performance information

Health Canada publishes timelines service standards and performance information for its services, including services for regulated parties to obtain regulatory authorization such as a permit or licence to engage in a regulated activity.

How guidance on regulatory requirements is provided (Policy on Providing Guidance on Regulatory Requirements)

Health Canada's Policy on Providing Guidance on Regulatory Requirements:

  • outlines the commitments, practices and tools that Health Canada applies when providing Canadians and businesses with information and guidance on regulatory obligations to be met
  • identifies the conditions under which written responses will be provided

View the department's Policy on Providing Guidance on Regulatory Requirements.

Number of administrative burden requirements in regulations (Administrative Burden Baseline initiative)

The Administrative Burden Baseline initiative requires departments and agencies to:

  • establish a baseline count of federal regulatory requirements that impose administrative burden on business
  • annually update and report publicly on the count of baseline requirements

View the number of administrative burden requirements in regulations administered by Health Canada at the following links:

All of the government's Acts and Regulations can be found on the Justice Canada website.

Consult the following for links to the Cabinet Directive on Regulation and supporting policies and guidance, and for information on government-wide regulatory initiatives implemented by departments and agencies across the government of Canada:

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit

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