Annual Report for the 2022 to 2023 Fiscal Year: Federal Regulatory Management Initiatives

On this page

• Message from the President of the Treasury Board
• Introduction
• Types of federal regulations
• Section 1: benefits and costs of regulations
• Section 2: implementation of the one-for-one rule
• Section 3: update on the Administrative Burden Baseline
• Section 4: regulatory modernization
• Appendix A: detailed report on cost-benefit analyses for the 2022–23 fiscal year
• Appendix B: detailed report on the one-for-one rule for the 2022–23 fiscal year
• Appendix C: administrative burden count

Message from the President of the Treasury Board

As President of the Treasury Board I play a key role in federal regulatory policy . As such, today I am presenting this annual report on federal regulatory management initiatives.

This seventh annual report highlights key initiatives and our work to ensure that Canada’s regulatory system serves Canadians by growing our economy and maintaining important protections for health, safety, security, and the environment.

It also includes an update on regulatory modernization initiatives intended to facilitate transparency, competitiveness, agility, and innovation in the Canadian regulatory system. In addition, it provides important information on the analysis of benefits and costs in federal regulations, the one-for-one rule, and the Administrative Burden Baseline, which is a measure of the number of administrative requirements in federal regulations.

To develop a regulatory system that benefits all Canadians, our focus this year has been to engage with diverse communities and businesses across the country to seek their feedback on regulatory issues.

In partnership with the Canada Gazette, we have launched a new system called the Online Regulatory Consultation System that gives Canadians the opportunity to share their comments on proposed regulatory changes. We have also piloted our Let’s Talk Federal Regulations online platform, which allows Canadians to share their views on the operations of the regulatory systems.

We have established a renewed External Advisory Committee on Regulatory Competitiveness that brings together business leaders, academics, and citizen representatives to advise us on regulatory competitiveness and innovation. By creating a space for diverse viewpoints at the table, this committee will allow us to respond to the varying needs of Canadians and to support economic growth.

We are facilitating regulatory cooperation both within Canada and with regulatory jurisdictions internationally. Regulators continue to work collaboratively on shared issues, such as the Supply Chain Regulatory Review, which aims to support stronger and more resilient supply chains.

I invite you to read this year’s report to learn more about the important ongoing work in support of Canada’s regulatory system.

Original signed by

The Honourable Anita Anand, P.C., M.P.
President of the Treasury Board

Introduction

This is the seventh annual report on federal regulatory management initiatives. This report is part of regular monitoring of certain aspects of Canada’s regulatory system.

This year’s report has four main sections:

• Section 1 describes the benefits and costs of regulations that were made by the Governor in Council and that have a significant^{Footnote 1} cost impact
• Section 2 reports on the implementation of the one-for-one rule, fulfilling the Red Tape Reduction Act reporting requirement
• Section 3 sets out the Administrative Burden Baseline for 2022 and for previous years, providing a count of administrative requirements in federal regulations
• Section 4 provides an update on regulatory modernization initiatives underway

The regulations reported on in this document were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, in the 2022–23 fiscal year, which covers the period from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023.

Types of federal regulations

Regulations are a type of law intended to change behaviours and achieve public policy objectives. They have legally binding effect and support a broad range of objectives, such as:

• health and safety
• security
• culture and heritage
• a strong and equitable economy
• the environment

Regulations are made by every order of government in Canada in accordance with responsibilities set out in the Constitution Act. Federal regulations deal with areas of federal jurisdiction, such as patent rules, vehicle emissions standards and drug licensing.

The Cabinet Directive on Regulation (CDR) is the policy instrument that governs the federal regulatory system. There are three principal categories of federal regulations. Each is based on where the authority to make regulations lies as determined by Parliament when it enacts the enabling legislation:

1. Governor in Council (GIC) regulations are reviewed by a group of ministers who recommend approval to the Governor General. This role is performed by the Treasury Board.
2. Ministerial regulations are made by a minister who is given the authority to do so by Parliament; considerations such as impact, permanence and scope of the measures are taken into account when providing these authorities.
   • Example: Section 30.61 of the Food and Drugs Act authorizes the Minister of Health to make orders to set fees for services such as the examination of amendment applications for medical devices. Section 30.63 of the Act authorizes the Minister to make orders to remit any fees paid under this authority.
3. Regulations made by an agency, tribunal or other entity that has been given the authority by law to do so in a given area, and that do not require the approval of the GIC or a minister.
   • Example: Section 533 of the Criminal Code gives the Lieutenant Governor in Council of a province the authority to make regulations that establish formal processes to ensure that an accused person can be tried in the official language of their choice.

Section 1: benefits and costs of regulations

In this section

• What is cost-benefit analysis?
• Analytical requirements
• Overview of benefits and costs of regulations
• Qualitative benefits and costs
• Quantitative benefits and costs
• Monetized benefits and costs

What is cost-benefit analysis?

In the regulatory context, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is a structured approach to identifying and considering the economic, environmental and social effects of a regulatory proposal. CBA identifies and measures the positive and negative impacts of a regulatory proposal and any feasible alternative options so that decision makers can determine the best course of action. CBA monetizes, quantifies and qualitatively analyzes the direct and indirect costs and benefits of the regulatory proposal to determine the proposal’s overall benefit.

Since 1986, the Government of Canada has required that a CBA be done for most regulatory proposals in order to assess their potential impact on areas such as:

• the environment
• workers
• businesses
• consumers
• other sectors of society

The results of the CBA are summarized in a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS), which is published with proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part I. The RIAS enables the public to:

• review the analysis
• provide comments to regulators before final consideration by the GIC and subsequent publication of approved final regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II

Analytical requirements

The analytical requirements for CBA as part of a RIAS are set out in the Policy on Cost‑Benefit Analysis, which was introduced on September 1, 2018, in support of the Cabinet Directive on Regulation. The policy requires both robust analysis and public transparency, including:

• reporting stakeholder consultations on CBA in the RIAS
• making the CBA available publicly

Regulatory proposals are categorized according to their expected level of impact, which is determined by the anticipated cost of the proposal:

• no-cost-impact regulatory proposals: proposals that have no identified costs
• low-cost-impact regulatory proposals: proposals that have average annual national costs of less than $1 million
• significant-cost-impact regulatory proposals: proposals that have $1 million or more in average annual national costs

The level of impact determines the degree of analysis and assessment that is required for a given regulatory proposal. This proportionate approach is consistent with regulatory best practices set out by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Table 1 shows the minimum analytical requirements for each level of impact.

Table 1: minimum analytical requirements, by level of impact

In this report, information on CBA covers GIC regulations only since they are subject to a formal challenge function and collective decision-making by Treasury Board, Part B. The information is limited to regulatory proposals that have a significant cost impact; since these proposals require that the majority of benefits and costs be monetized, the overall net impact can be described in economic terms more clearly than proposals that have low or no costs, which rely more on qualitative or quantified analysis. These three types of analysis are described in detail in this section.

Figures in this section are taken from the RIASs for regulations published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, in the 2022–23 fiscal year. To remove the effect of inflation, figures are expressed in 2022 dollars and, therefore, some vary from those published in the RIASs. This approach permits meaningful and consistent comparison of figures, regardless of the year in which regulatory impacts were originally measured.

Overview of benefits and costs of regulations

In the 2022–23 fiscal year, a total of 277 regulations were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, compared with 294 in the 2021–22 fiscal year. Of these 277 regulations:

• 191 were GIC regulations (69.0% of all regulations)
• 86 were non-GIC regulations, that is, regulations made by a minister or an independent regulatory authority (31.0% of all regulations)

Of the 191 GIC regulations (compared with 182 in the 2021–22 fiscal year):

• 166 had no cost impact or low-cost impact (86.9% of GIC regulations)
• 25 had significant cost impact (13.1% of GIC regulations)

Figure 1 provides an overview of regulations approved and published in the 2022–23 fiscal year.

Figure 1 - Text version

Figure 1 provides an overview of the regulations published in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

During this period, 86 non-Governor in Council regulations were published, and 191 Governor in Council regulations were published.

Of the 191 Governor in Council regulations, 166 were no-cost-impact or low-cost-impact regulations, and 25 were significant-cost-impact regulations.

Of the 25 significant-cost-impact regulations, 15 included monetized costs and benefits, 6 included monetized costs only, and 4 did not include monetized costs or benefits.

Qualitative benefits and costs

The most basic element of any analysis of costs and benefits is a description of the expected impacts of the regulatory proposal. This description is based on a qualitative analysis and is used to:

• provide decision makers with an evidence-based understanding of the anticipated impacts of the regulation
• provide context for further analysis that is expressed in numerical or monetary terms

Qualitative analysis should be part of the CBA of all regulatory proposals, including those that have no cost impact or low-cost impact. Most proposals that have no cost impact or low-cost impact are based entirely or almost entirely on qualitative analysis; low-cost-impact proposals include information on both benefits and costs, and those that have no cost impacts would describe only the anticipated benefits.

The following are examples of qualitative impacts identified in significant-cost-impact regulations in the 2022–23 fiscal year:

• The Regulations Amending the Explosives Regulations, 2013 (Restricted Components) (SOR/2022-121) introduce strengthened access controls to calcium ammonium nitrate, hexamine, aluminum powder and acetone. These will help ensure that criminals and terrorists encounter barriers to accessing these materials, hindering their ability to develop homemade explosives.
• The Regulations Amending the Hazardous Products Regulations (GHS, Seventh Revised Edition) (SOR/2022-272) provide increased health and safety benefits to Canadian workers that are expected to translate into fewer workplace injuries, fewer acute illnesses from short-term exposure to hazardous products, fewer chronic illnesses from long-term exposure to hazardous products, and fewer fatalities from injuries and illnesses.
• The Prohibition of the Manufacture and Importation of Wheel Weights Containing Lead Regulations (SOR/2023-15) reduce the presence of lead in the environment and reduce risks to the health of Canadians through the prohibition of the manufacture and importation of lead wheel weights. The reduction of lead dust resulting from the Regulations will generate health benefits, including reduced blood lead levels, which will reduce neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, renal and reproductive effects associated with exposure to lead. Other health benefits include improved academic achievements, social behaviours, attention and executive functions, as well as auditory and visual functions. These health benefits are expected to manifest themselves predominantly in urban areas with high-traffic-flow volumes.

Quantitative benefits and costs

Quantitative benefits and costs are those that are expressed as a quantity, for example:

• the number of recipients of a benefit
• the percentage reduction in pollution
• the amount of time saved

As is the case with qualitative information, quantitative benefits and costs can be used in two ways:

• on their own, they can illustrate the expected magnitude of a proposal by providing measurable figures to decision makers
• they can be used as a factor in developing cost estimates

Quantitative analysis is an element of nearly all regulatory proposals that have a significant cost impact. Such analysis provides key metrics on the frequency or number of instances of an activity and is essential for estimating benefits and costs. Quantitative analysis can also be used on its own to illustrate the overall impact of a proposal in non-monetary terms. Although quantitative analysis is not required for proposals that have no cost impact or low-cost impact, it is often included alongside qualitative information because it can be useful to decision makers.

The following are examples of quantified benefits and costs identified in significant‑cost‑impact regulations that were finalized in the 2022–23 fiscal year:

• The Regulations Amending the Income Tax Regulations (COVID-19 – Twenty-sixth Qualifying Period) (SOR/2022-68) allow eligible entities who are subject to a capacity-limiting public health restriction to qualify for the Local Lockdown Program. This program provided extended Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy eligibility in situations where public health orders remained in place to address the Omicron variant. The revised access criteria were expected to benefit approximately 30,000 employers.
• The Regulations Amending the Canada Student Financial Assistance Regulations (SOR/2022-131) remove barriers to inclusion faced by persons with disabilities by making disability supports available to students and borrowers with a persistent or prolonged disability. Annually, the amendments will benefit an estimated 40,000 recipients who have a persistent or prolonged disability.
• The Regulations Amending the Veterans Health Care Regulations (SOR/2022-69) offer coverage for access to mental health treatments and aim to immediately support the mental health of Veterans while they wait for a decision on Veterans Affairs Canada disability benefits applications. While their application is pending, applicants will receive early access to certain mental health treatments without having to pay out of pocket. It is estimated that 27,000 Veterans will access this initiative over the first 10 years.

Monetized benefits and costs

Monetized benefits and costs are those that are expressed in a currency amount, such as dollars, using an approach that considers both the value of an impact and when it occurs.^{Footnote 2}

An analysis of monetized costs and benefits is required for all regulatory proposals that have a significant cost impact. If the benefits or costs cannot be monetized, a rigorous qualitative analysis of the costs or benefits of the proposed regulation is required, and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) must be satisfied that there are legitimate obstacles to monetizing the impacts. In practice, most regulatory proposals that have significant cost impacts include both monetized benefits and costs as part of the analysis.

For costs and benefits to be considered monetized, the dollar values used in a CBA are adjusted so that values and prices that occur at different times are:

• equal to their exchange value (inflation adjustment)
• equal when they occur (discounting)

Of the 25 regulations that have significant cost impacts that were finalized in the 2022–23 fiscal year, 21 had monetized impacts, representing 11.0% of GIC regulations. For descriptions of detailed benefits and costs by regulation, see Appendix A.

Of the 25 regulations that have significant cost impacts:

• 15 had monetized benefits and costs
• six had monetized costs only
• four did not include monetized costs or benefits; of these, one was related to COVID‑19 and featured modified analytical requirements^{Footnote 3}

For the 15 regulations that have significant cost impacts that had monetized estimates of both benefits and costs, expressed as total present value (see Figure 2):^{Footnote 4}

• total benefits were $8,585,455,467
• total costs were $5,986,238,367
• net benefits were $2,599,217,101

Figure 2 - Text version

Figure 2 depicts the benefits and costs of significant-cost-impact regulations published in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

The benefits associated with significant-cost-impact regulations totalled $8.59 billion.

The costs associated with significant-cost-impact regulations totalled $5.99 billion.

The difference between the benefits and the costs is a net benefit of $2.6 billion.

The following three significant-cost-impact regulatory proposals had the greatest net benefit of all proposals that were finalized in the 2022–23 fiscal year and that had monetized benefits and costs:

• The Regulations Amending the Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2016 (Amendment 17) (SOR/2022-265) updates energy efficiency and testing standards for central air conditioners and central heat pumps primarily used in the residential sector to prevent unnecessary regulatory differences between Canada and the US. The amendment also makes minor changes to currently regulated products to ensure that the Energy Efficiency Regulations, 2016 align with the US requirements more clearly. Finally, by identifying certain products that are already considered to be in alignment with another jurisdiction, the amendment permits the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources to use their authority for ministerial regulations to maintain harmonization for requirements for energy-using products with other countries. This regulation is expected to generate monetized net benefits of $1,830,910,599 between 2023 and 2050.
• The Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations (Nutrition Symbols, Other Labelling Provisions, Vitamin D and Hydrogenated Fats or Oils) (SOR/2022-168) add a new front-of-package labelling requirement for most prepackaged food products that contain nutrients of public health concern at or above specified thresholds. This requirement will enable Canadians to more easily identify foods that are high in these nutrients when shopping for groceries and help reduce health risks associated with excess consumption of these nutrients. The regulation also includes changes to requirements related to vitamin D, to update standards and regulatory provisions in the Food and Drugs Regulations and to remove unnecessary existing labelling requirements for high-intensity sweeteners. It is estimated that the amendment will generate monetized net benefits of $1,532,373,559 between 2022 and 2036.
• The Regulations Amending the Canada Small Business Financing Regulations (SOR/2022-157) enhance the Canada Small Business Financing Program (CSBFP) to better assist new and established Canadian small businesses access the financing they need to start up and expand, as well as to assist those businesses that have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic to increase their liquidity and recover. This has been achieved by introducing a line of credit financing option, expanding eligible loan classes under the CSBFP, and increasing the maximum loan amount and coverage period for equipment and leasehold improvements. The amendments are expected to generate monetized net benefits of $285,520,000 between 2022 and 2041.

The purpose of CBA is to determine whether the expected benefits of a proposal are greater than the expected costs. This determination, however, is not based entirely on monetized benefits and costs. CBAs frequently include quantitative and qualitative analysis, in addition to monetized analysis, and the overall analysis must consider this broader range of evidence. In the 2022–23 fiscal year:

• Four regulations that have a significant cost impact had monetized costs that were greater than monetized benefits, which typically indicates that some benefits, such as broader societal benefits, could not be monetized and were stated qualitatively alongside benefits that were monetized.
• The Clean Fuel Regulations (SOR/2022-140) included a blend of analysis supporting a decision that was based on sound evidence. The RIAS included monetized data for all costs related to the administration of the regulatory program and the costs to industry and other stakeholders. The monetized benefits stated in the RIAS related solely to the administration of the regulatory program, but those related to the environmental outcomes were stated quantitatively and qualitatively. A break-even analysis considered both Environment and Climate Change Canada’s (ECCC’s) 2016 methodology for estimating the social cost of carbon (SCC), as well as estimates of the SCC value from the academic literature. The analysis estimated that the regulations would achieve a reduction of 204 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent at a cost of $151 per tonne. Ultimately, the RIAS stated that it was plausible that the monetized benefits of the initiative would exceed its costs. Subsequent updates by ECCC^{Footnote 5} of values for avoided damages from emissions of carbon dioxide increase over time, starting at $256 in 2022 to $341 per tonne in 2040 (the assessment period of the analysis), indicating that had this data been available at the time that the regulation was approved, a significant net benefit would have been reported. However, since the RIAS stated monetized costs but only a portion of the monetized benefits, the initiative is not included in the aggregate figures above.

For detailed benefits and costs by regulation, see Appendix A.

Section 2: implementation of the one-for-one rule

In this section

• The one-for-one rule
• Key findings on the implementation of the one-for-one rule

The one-for-one rule

To comply with the annual reporting requirements of the Red Tape Reduction Act, this report also provides an update on the implementation of the one-for-one rule.

The one-for-one rule, which was instituted in the 2012–13 fiscal year, seeks to control the administrative burden that regulations impose on businesses.

Administrative burden includes:

• planning, collecting, processing and reporting of information
• completing forms
• retaining data required by the federal government to comply with a regulation

Under the rule, when a new or amended regulation increases the administrative burden on businesses, the cost of this burden must be offset through other regulatory changes. The rule also requires that an existing regulation be repealed each time a new regulation imposes new administrative burden on business.

The rule applies to all regulatory changes made or approved by the GIC or a minister that impose new administrative burden on business, including those with low-cost impacts and significant cost impacts. Under the Red Tape Reduction Regulations, the Treasury Board can exempt three categories of regulations from the requirement to offset burden and regulatory titles:

1. regulations related to tax or tax administration
2. regulations where there is no discretion regarding what is to be included in the regulation (for example, treaty obligations or the implementation of a court decision)
3. regulations made in response to emergency, unique or exceptional circumstances, including where compliance with the rule would compromise the Canadian economy, public health or safety

Regulators are required to report on:

• the monetized change in administrative burden
• feedback from stakeholders and Canadians on regulators’ estimates of administrative burden costs or savings to business
• the number of regulations created or removed

The Red Tape Reduction Regulations require that dollar values used in estimating administrative burden be expressed in 2012 dollars and discounted to 2012 using a 7% discount rate. This requirement ensures that values and prices that occur at different times are equal in their exchange value (inflation adjustment) and when they occur (discounting). In this report, all figures related to the one-for-one rule are adjusted in this way to permit meaningful and consistent comparison of regulations, regardless of the fiscal year in which they were introduced.

In 2015, the Red Tape Reduction Act enshrined the existing policy requirement for the one‑for‑one rule in law. Section 9 of the Red Tape Reduction Act requires that the President of the Treasury Board prepare and make public an annual report on the application of the rule.

The Red Tape Reduction Regulations state that the following must be included in the annual report:

• a summary of the increases and decreases in the cost of administrative burden that results from regulatory changes that are made in accordance with section 5 of the act within the 12‑month period ending on March 31 of the year in which the report is made public
• the number of regulations that are amended or repealed as a result of regulatory changes that are made in accordance with section 5 of the act within that 12‑month period

Key findings on the implementation of the one-for-one rule

The main findings on changes in administrative burden and the overall number of regulations for the 2022–23 fiscal year are as follows:

• system-wide, the federal government remains in compliance with the requirement in the Red Tape Reduction Act to offset administrative burden and titles within 24 months
• $3,675,194 more in annual net administrative burden was introduced in the 2022–23 fiscal year than was removed; since the 2012–13 fiscal year, annual net burden has been reduced by approximately $55.8 million^{Footnote 6}
• 11 more regulatory titles were taken off the books than were added, with a total net reduction of 216 titles since the 2012–13 fiscal year

A detailed report on regulations that had implications under the one-for-one rule is in Appendix B.

Under the one-for-one rule, regulatory changes in the 2022–23 fiscal year resulted in the following increases and decreases in the cost of administrative burden on businesses:

• $5,889,507 of new burden introduced
• $2,214,313 of existing burden removed
• net increase of $3,675,194

The rule allows individual portfolios 24 months to offset any new burden introduced. As well, portfolios are allowed to bank burden reductions for future offsets within that portfolio. As a result, nearly two thirds of the $5,889,507 in new burden introduced in the 2022–23 fiscal year was immediately offset by previously removed burden.

• $1,650,230 of new burden was offset immediately by previously removed burden
• $2,182,884 was offset by subsequent changes in 2022–23
• $2,056,393 of new burden had not yet been offset as of March 31, 2023

The changes introduced by the following three regulations represented the largest changes in administrative burden in the 2022–23 fiscal year:

• The Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Labour Code (Medical Leave with Pay) (SOR/2022-228) support the implementation of paid medical leave legislative provisions by, among other things, clarifying the application of these requirements in the longshoring sector, stipulating how to calculate entitlements for certain employees, and ensuring the existing administrative monetary penalty regime can be used to promote compliance. The Regulations also require employers to keep specified records each time an employee takes a paid medical leave. The total annualized administrative costs related to these record-keeping requirements are estimated to be $2,705,598.
• The Regulations Amending the Food and Drug Regulations and the Cannabis Regulations (Supplemented Foods) (SOR/2022-169) establish a risk-based regulatory framework for supplemented foods in Canada to protect the health and safety of Canadians while providing a clear and predictable regulatory environment for supplemented foods. The supplemented foods framework significantly decreases administrative burden on industry through a more efficient, risk-based approach. Manufacturers of supplemented foods will no longer be required to submit annual consumption incident reports or annual sales data, or conduct and submit any research on their products post-market as a one-time administrative cost. Removing these requirements under the new framework will result in an annualized reduction of $1,924,365 in administrative burden for businesses.
• The Clean Fuel Regulations(SOR/2022-140) reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the life-cycle carbon intensity of liquid fossil fuels used in Canada. The Regulations establish a carbon credit market that requires primary producers to submit compliance reports; compliance reports are also required from other parties such as low-carbon-intensity fuel producers and importers who may choose to participate in the credit market. The 30 primary suppliers and an estimated 111 other participants will incur net annualized administrative costs of $1,533,679.

Under the one-for-one rule, regulatory changes in the 2022–23 fiscal year resulted in the following increases and decreases in the stock of federal regulations:

• two new regulatory titles imposing administrative burden on business were introduced
• 12 regulatory titles were repealed
• five existing titles were repealed and replaced with four new titles

While six new titles were introduced over the course of the year, the rule allows individual portfolios 24 months to offset these titles. As is the case with administrative burden, portfolios are allowed to bank title repeals for future offsets within the portfolio. As a result, all of these new titles have already been offset:

• two were offset immediately by previously removed titles
• four were offset by subsequent repeals in 2022–23

The Treasury Board is responsible for ensuring compliance with the one-for-one rule across government and for addressing situations of non-compliance. System-wide, the federal government remains in compliance with the requirement in the Red Tape Reduction Act to offset new administrative burden and titles within 24 months.

TBS supports the Treasury Board in its oversight function by tracking offsetting requirements by portfolio. On November 23, 2022, Fisheries and Oceans Canada exceeded the 24-month period for offsetting $160,560 introduced by the Regulations Amending the Atlantic Fisheries Regulations, 1985 and the Maritime Provinces Fishery Regulations (SOR/2020-246).

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has had a negative balance of administrative burden and regulatory titles that has been referenced in previous reports since 2017. Including the new amount added in 2022–23, this balance is $184,893 of administrative burden and one regulatory title. The outstanding balance results from the $160,560 added in 2022–23 and the following amounts from previous years:

• $23,190 overdue since June 28, 2017, related to the Aquaculture Activities Regulations (SOR/2015-177), which introduced $409,513 in administrative burden on business, of which the department has already offset $386,323
• $738 overdue since June 21, 2020, related to the Regulations Amending the Marine Mammal Regulations (SOR/2018-126)
• $173 overdue since February 24, 2021, related to the Banc-des-Américains Marine Protected Area Regulations (SOR/2019-50)
• $232 overdue since August 7, 2021, related to the Authorizations Concerning Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Regulations (SOR/2019-286); this regulation also introduced one new regulatory title that has not yet been offset and is also past due as of August 7, 2021

Officials from TBS and Fisheries and Oceans Canada continue to work together to identify opportunities to achieve these outstanding offsets.

In the 2022–23 fiscal year, the Treasury Board approved the exemption of 55 regulations from the requirement to offset burden and titles:

• two were related to tax and tax administration
• two were related to non-discretionary obligations
• 51 were related to emergency, unique or exceptional circumstances

The total number of exemptions in 2022–23 is significantly higher relative to previous years, as is the proportion of exemptions citing emergency, unique or exceptional circumstances relative to the two other categories. This is a result of the volume of regulations imposing sanctions associated with several international conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine; these regulations typically cited “emergency circumstances” to justify exemption from the requirement to offset new administrative burden introduced.

Figure 3: overview of the implementation of the one-for-one rule for regulations published in the 2022–23 fiscal year

Section 3: update on the Administrative Burden Baseline

In this section

• The Administrative Burden Baseline
• Key findings on the Administrative Burden Baseline

The Administrative Burden Baseline

The Administrative Burden Baseline (ABB) provides Canadians with a count of the total number of administrative requirements on businesses in all federal regulations (GIC, ministerial and independent regulatory authorities) and associated forms.

For the purposes of the ABB, an administrative requirement is a compulsion, obligation, demand or prohibition placed on a business, its activities or its operations through a GIC or non-GIC regulation. A requirement may also be thought of as any obligation that a business must satisfy to avoid penalties or delays. Regulatory requirements generally use directive words or phrases such as “shall,” “must,” and “is to,” and the ABB counts these references in the regulatory text or other documents such as forms or program materials that explain obligations of the regulated party.

The ABB was first publicly reported on in September 2014, providing a baseline count of administrative requirements by regulator. Since then, regulators continue to:

• count their administrative requirements occurring from July 1 to June 30 each year
• publicly post updates to their ABB count by September 30 each year

Key findings on the Administrative Burden Baseline

The baseline provides Canadians with information on 39 regulators that are responsible for GIC and non-GIC regulations that were identified as containing administrative requirements on business when the ABB was initiated in 2014.^{Footnote 7}

As of June 30, 2022:

• the total number of administrative requirements was 148,770, a decrease of 1,799 (or 1.2%) from the 2021 count of 150,569
• there were 601 regulations identified by regulators as having administrative requirements, a decrease of 3 (or 0.5%) from the 2021 figure of 604; for reference, there are approximately 3,000 federal regulations currently in place
• the average number of administrative requirements per regulation was 247.5, a decrease of 1.8 (or 0.8%) from the 2021 average of 249.3

The top three changes in the ABB in 2022 were:

• Environment and Climate Change Canada’s count decreased by 1,759 requirements, resulting mainly from several existing regulations being repealed and replaced with new regulations that imposed fewer requirements. In addition, the count for the Reduction in the Release of Volatile Organic Compounds Regulations (Petroleum Sector) was adjusted to add provisions that came into force in 2022 and to correct an error from 2021, in which some reporting requirements had been counted twice.
• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s count increased by 334, relating mainly to 21 forms that were developed, updated or revised to meet regulatory requirements. In particular, two long forms relating to the Feeds Regulations, 1983 were added, as was a new form related to the Health of Animals Regulations.
• The Canadian Pari-Mutuel Agency’s count decreased by 252. The reduction was the result of a long-term information technology strategy that included the development of an online application process for managing all authorizations issued by the agency.

A detailed summary of the ABB count for 2022 and for previous years can be found in Appendix C.

Section 4: regulatory modernization

In this section

• Hearing from Canadians to achieve regulatory excellence
• Strengthening transparency and participation in the regulatory system
  • Breaking down interjurisdictional regulatory barriers
  • Competitiveness Assessment Tool
  • Blue Economy Regulatory Review
  • Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill
• Targeted regulatory reviews
• Online Regulatory Consultation System
• Strengthening capacity to understand and leverage innovation
• Working with partners domestically and internationally

Regulations aim to protect Canadians’ health, safety, security and the environment while fostering innovation and economic growth.

This year, the government launched several initiatives to further help Canadians participate in the modernization of the Canadian regulatory system. It contributed to an environment that facilitates Canada’s economic growth by working in partnership with regulators to support regulatory excellence. The government also continued to work on initiatives to better support business innovation and competitiveness, and to make it easier for those regulated to meet regulatory requirements by limiting associated burden. Regulatory excellence cannot be achieved without transparent and responsive engagement with all stakeholders.

Hearing from Canadians to achieve regulatory excellence

As part of the government’s continuing commitment to engage with diverse groups of stakeholders, the External Advisory Committee on Regulatory Competitiveness (EACRC) was renewed in October 2022. The committee advises the Treasury Board on how to best advance regulatory modernization and excellence. Selected by the President of the Treasury Board, the committee is composed of seven members who have a wide diversity of experience and perspectives. Members from across Canada are asked to provide independent perspectives on regulatory excellence based on their backgrounds in academia, businesses, civil society and consumer advocacy. The committee’s renewed mandate extends to spring 2024, during which the committee will focus on four themes:

• COVID-19 lessons learned
• regulatory stock reviews
• the Cabinet Directive on Regulation
• monitoring the first committee’s (2019–21) 44 recommendations

The EACRC met four times between October 2022 and March 2023 and made progress on their mandate themes. The committee has shown a commitment to hearing from stakeholders from a variety of backgrounds to inform the development of its advice, and 15 guest speakers presented to the committee during this period. The EACRC’s discussions to date have included:

• learning from experts from across Canada and internationally on regulatory best practices, as well as regulatory excellence frameworks and models, including outcome-based and risk-informed approaches to regulation
• the impact of regulations on diverse populations and how regulatory changes can make significant differences in their lives
• the importance of incorporating not only diversity and inclusion in discussions around regulatory excellence, but also hearing living and lived experiences of Canadians who are often not included in these discussions
• early engagement with the committee on the Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill consultations to ensure broad awareness of the consultation launched in March 2023

Through these meetings, the committee reflected on ongoing challenges faced by Canadians in navigating the regulatory system while exploring opportunities for change and innovation. By incorporating the experience and background of the committee members, as well as diverse guest speakers, the committee will develop advice on these opportunities, and on regulatory excellence more broadly, in its recommendations to the Treasury Board via the President.

Strengthening transparency and participation in the regulatory system

The government also wants to hear from Canadians as regulations are developed, managed and reviewed. This year, TBS launched the Let’s Talk Federal Regulations (LTFR) platform to strengthen transparency and increase participation in improving the regulatory system. This online platform enables dynamic and interactive participation from stakeholders and Indigenous Peoples, whether organizations or individuals, on regulatory modernization initiatives. The input received in the context of each consultation ensures that the views of stakeholders are reflected in the development of new policies, tools and future initiatives. In 2022–23, the LTFR platform drew over 9,000 total unique visitors. Individuals who registered either on their own behalf or on behalf of an organization had the opportunity to self-identify their organization type, including those that represent diverse perspectives, as well as their sector. More than 5,600 visitors went to at least one consultation page on the LTFR platform, and there were over 230 contributions made in both official languages.

TBS launched four consultations on the platform to engage with Canadians by collecting their ideas on targeted focus areas:

1. Breaking down inter-jurisdictional regulatory barriers
2. Competitiveness Assessment Tool
3. Blue Economy Regulatory Review
4. Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill: Keeping pace with change

Breaking down interjurisdictional regulatory barriers

The Government of Canada works with provinces, territories and other jurisdictions to reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to trade and competitiveness while continuing to protect the health and safety of citizens and the environment. In 2022, the Government of Canada used its Let’s Talk Federal Regulations interactive online engagement platform to consult with Canadian organizations, individuals and other interested parties on opportunities to align and cooperate on regulations in order to reduce barriers to trade. In total, 82 comments and submissions were received from 47 organizations. Stakeholders strongly supported further pursuit of regulatory cooperation within Canada and with international trade partners to support the competitiveness of Canadian industry, enable innovation and support labour mobility (see What We Heard Report: Stakeholder Consultations on Breaking Down Inter-Jurisdictional Regulatory Barriers).

Published in June 2022, the Canada-U.S. Supply Chains Progress Report highlighted the key role of regulatory cooperation in effective supply chains and identified the Canada–United States Regulatory Cooperation Council as an important mechanism to help reduce cross-border regulatory differences impeding trade and supply chain efficiencies.

Competitiveness Assessment Tool

In the 2018 Fall Economic Statement, the government announced a suite of regulatory modernization initiatives, including ways to explore integrating greater consideration for competitiveness, efficiency and economic growth in the federal regulatory policy framework. As a result, TBS has been working with regulatory departments and agencies and targeted stakeholders to develop the Competitiveness Assessment Tool, which can be used by regulators to ensure competitiveness is considered during the regulatory process. TBS received 125 comments from six regulatory departments and agencies, feedback from three agri-food industry stakeholders and a provincial government. TBS also conducted public consultations, and 38 comments and submissions were received from 20 organizations. The development of the tool has received positive feedback. Stakeholders have recognized the need for a tool that helps reduce the adverse impact of regulations on competitiveness and have critiqued some aspects of the proposed tool .

Blue Economy Regulatory Review

The Blue Economy Regulatory Review, led by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans with support from TBS, was launched in December 2022. The review is examining the role of regulation as a driver of ocean innovation with a view to modernize Canada’s ocean-related regulatory framework. To support transparency and inform the review, a consultation was undertaken through the Let’s Talk Federal Regulations platform and the Canada Gazette from December 17, 2022, through March 31, 2023. The consultation generated over 100 submissions from Indigenous partners, industry, non-governmental organizations, academia, other levels of government and individual Canadians, who communicated their views on how to modernize Canada’s marine-related regulatory frameworks.

Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill

TBS also used the Let’s Talk Federal Regulations platform to consult on the Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill, which enables the modernization of regulations through practical and modest legislative change. A consultation was launched from March to June 2023. The consultation sought feedback on two potential enterprise-wide authorities for sandboxes and incorporation by reference of internal documents. In addition, the consultation also sought ideas from stakeholders for potential non-controversial, common-sense legislative changes that could be made to address overly complicated, inconsistent or outdated requirements.

A total of 78 submissions were received from stakeholders. Feedback received from the consultation will inform future iterations of the Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill.

Additionally, Bill S-6, an Act Respecting Regulatory Modernization (second Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill), was introduced in Parliament in spring 2022. As of March 31, 2023, the Senate has completed its review of this bill, and the House of Commons has completed its first reading. This bill proposes amendments to:

• reduce the administrative burden for businesses
• make digital interactions with government easier
• simplify regulatory processes
• make exemptions from certain regulatory requirements to test new products
• make cross-border trade easier through more consistent and coherent rules across governments

Targeted regulatory reviews

TBS is undertaking a third round of Targeted Regulatory Reviews focused on the marine-based economy (that is, blue economy) and supply chains. Coordinated by TBS with participation from departments and agencies, Regulatory Reviews examine regulations and regulatory practices in cross-cutting sectors and themes, seeking to address bottlenecks to economic growth and innovation while continuing to prioritize health, safety, security, and environmental responsibilities. Stakeholder engagement is central to Regulatory Reviews, enabling stakeholders to provide direct feedback on regulatory issues and irritants, with clear transparency and accountability mechanisms.

The Supply Chain Regulatory Review was announced in the 2022 Fall Economic Statement to consider further regulatory changes that could improve the efficiency and resiliency of Canada’s supply chains. A TBS-led public consultation is being planned to help identify regulatory issues, burdens and irritants in targeted areas related to the supply chain.

Online Regulatory Consultation System

This year, TBS supported Public Services and Procurement Canada in piloting a new public commenting feature on proposed regulations in the Canada Gazette , Part I, Online Regulatory Consultation System. After a successful pilot, the Online Regulatory Consultation System became a mandatory part of the prepublication phase for all regulations published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on September 27, 2022.

As of September 11, 2023, 101 regulations prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I, have used online commenting. Of these, 85 have been published with stakeholder comments, while the remaining 16 are in the process of being reviewed. In addition, as of September 11, 2023, a total of 4,716 stakeholder comments have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, using the Online Regulatory Consultation System.

Strengthening capacity to understand and leverage innovation

The Centre for Regulatory Innovation provides tools, advice and funding to help federal regulators try new approaches to better understand and respond to new challenges. To this end, TBS continued to work with departments to identify and implement small to mid-scale projects aimed at improving the regulatory environment for innovation and economic growth.

In 2022–23, the Centre for Regulatory Innovation funded a total of seven pilot projects through the Regulatory Experimentation Expense Fund to try new regulatory approaches across four departments, including:

• a Health Canada project to support regulatory innovation for advanced therapeutic products
• an extension to a Transport Canada project to test light sport aircraft in pilot training
• a second phase of a Transport Canada project to develop and test electronic personnel licences for the aviation sector

To further these efforts, the Centre for Regulatory Innovation received $6.2 million from 2022–25 for the Regulators’ Capacity Fund, which supports departments as they work to increase the competitiveness of Canadian regulations and to incorporate lessons learned from the pandemic. This new funding builds upon $8.9 million previously disbursed by TBS across 12 departments and agencies from 2019 to 2022.

In 2022–23, TBS approved $3.6 million for four new multi-year projects through the Regulators’ Capacity Fund that will identify regulatory barriers to innovation, trade and economic growth in specific sectors and develop tools to modernize regulatory administration.

For example, one new project involves Transport Canada implementing a regulatory sandbox to test an electronic licensing system for aviation staff as an alternative to the paper licence that current regulations require pilots and air traffic controllers to hold. The evidence gathered from this sandbox will help Transport Canada identify the appropriate technology for their e-licensing project and will inform any resulting regulatory changes.

Working with partners domestically and internationally

During all stages of the regulatory life cycle, regulators are to consider and engage in opportunities to pursue regulatory cooperation and regulatory alignment. TBS continues to facilitate regulatory cooperation both within Canada and with regulatory jurisdictions internationally.

Regulatory cooperation is one of many tools that the government uses to improve efficiency and competitiveness in the regulatory system. Federal regulators cooperate with regulators across borders to: 

• reduce unnecessary regulatory differences
• eliminate duplicative requirements and processes
• harmonize or align regulations
• share information and experiences
• foster innovation and collaboration
• adopt international standards

TBS continued to represent the government in formal regulatory cooperation forums such as:

• the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC)
• the Canada-European Union Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF)
• the Canada Free Trade Agreement’s Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table (RCT)
• Agile Nations

In 2022–23, the government advanced work plan items through four formal regulatory cooperation forums: 

• The latest RCF work plan includes a renewed commitment to three existing work plan items, as well as two existing items of interest. Both parties continue to raise and consider new topics for cooperation at the table.
• To concentrate on existing commitments, the RCT focused on advancing the 16 remaining items instead of adding new items to its work plan. In 2022–23, five work plan items reached completion during this period and signatures were added to four previously concluded agreements.
• TBS is working with its US counterparts to finalize a number of existing work plans under the RCC and consider future opportunities for bilateral cooperation.
• TBS supported Canada’s work under the Agile Nations Charter, a 2020 agreement signed by Canada, Denmark, Italy, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom to foster cooperation on rule-making. Canada continues to work with Agile Nations partners to address issues ranging from cyber security and digital technologies to the use of regulatory sandboxes.

Through these different forums, regulators identify opportunities for cooperation and commit to work plans that advance their cooperation goals. Work plans are kept up to date online at Canada’s regulatory cooperation web page and on the Agile Nations web page.

This year also saw TBS engage with its partners, including Global Affairs Canada and the Standards Council of Canada, to promote the adoption and understanding of Good Regulatory Practices internationally. Good Regulatory Practices are internationally recognized processes, systems, tools and methods for improving the quality of regulations. They can include regulatory transparency, participation, impact assessment and accountability. These engagements included negotiations for free-trade agreements and the implementation of previously negotiated agreements, work in international organizations, and other bilateral and multilateral activities.

Appendix A: detailed report on cost-benefit analyses for the 2022–23 fiscal year

Figures in this appendix are taken from the RIASs in final federal regulations published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, in the 2022–23 fiscal year. To permit meaningful and consistent comparison of regulations, regardless of the fiscal year in which they were introduced, figures are expressed in 2022 dollars and vary from those published in the RIASs.

Table A1 lists GIC regulations finalized in the 2022–23 fiscal year that had significant cost impacts and that included both monetized benefits and monetized costs. These regulations may also include quantitative and qualitative data from a cost benefit analysis (CBA) to supplement the monetized CBA.

Table A2 lists GIC regulations finalized in the 2022–23 fiscal year that had significant cost impacts and that included monetized costs but not monetized benefits. If it is not possible to quantify the benefits or costs of a proposal that has significant cost impacts, a rigorous qualitative analysis of costs or benefits of the proposed regulation is required, with the concurrence of TBS.

Table A3 lists GIC regulations finalized in the 2022–23 fiscal year that had significant cost impacts and that did not include monetized benefits and costs.

Appendix B: detailed report on the one-for-one rule for the 2022–23 fiscal year

Appendix C: administrative burden count

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2023,
Catalogue No.BT1-51E-PDF, ISSN: 2561-4290