Regulatory Experimentation Expense Fund draft

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Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for the Regulatory Experimentation Expense Fund (REEF) will be accepted until November 21st, 2025.

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What is the REEF?

The Regulatory Experimentation Expense Fund (REEF) supports federal regulators using experimentation and sandboxes to test:

• Innovative approaches to reduce red tape at any stage of the regulatory lifecycle
• Removing regulatory barriers to industry innovations getting to market (e.g., new products, business models, and services)

All stages of regulatory experimentation are supported, including:

• Determining if an experiment is the right approach
• Developing a regulatory experiment
• Conducting a regulatory experiment

The REEF is open to all Government of Canada regulators.

What the REEF Offers:

💰 Financial Support The REEF provides funding for expenditures necessary for proposed regulatory experiments or pre-experiments, including project implementation and administration costs. Departments are expected to share the expenses of the project using financial and in-kind resources. The total funding envelope is $1,200,000 per fiscal year. Important Update: Due to ongoing multi-year projects, the available funding for 2026-2027 is approx. $650,000. Early consultation is recommended. *The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat reserves the right to make the final determination on eligible expenditures.

🤝 Technical Support The REEF offers expert advice and guidance from the Centre for Regulatory Innovation team. We can help you navigate your specific regulatory context, develop a robust project design, and connect you with the right partners and resources to ensure your experiment is a success.

Eligibility Criteria

🧪 1. Regulatory Experimentation The project must involve regulatory experimentation by either: Conducting a regulatory experiment or sandbox, determining if an experiment is the right approach, or developing a regulatory experiment.

🔎 2. Problem or Opportunity The project must address at least one of the following: A defined industry need Regulatory uncertainty A regulatory barrier to innovation

💡 3. Innovation The project must be about supporting innovation by helping you decide: Whether to remove or avoid adding regulatory barriers to an innovation entering the Canadian marketplace. Whether to adopt an innovative regulatory approach.

Get Started with REEF
Step 1: Download and Read the EOI Template This will provide you with more details on Eligibility and Prioritisation criteria. Download EOI Template
Step 2: Consult with Us Discuss your project idea with the CRI team to confirm eligibility and obtain advice to develop your EOI. Email the CRI Team
Step 3: Use our New AI Advisor Coming Soon - The AI advisor will help you confirm your EOI is complete and eligible before submitting. Download EOI Template
Step 4: Submit your EOI Email the CRI Team

[PLACEHOLDER] Project Eligibility Self-Assessment
Use our AI EOI Self-Assessment Guide to get early feedback on project eligibility and help draft your EOI. Disclaimer: This is a self-assessment tool. The AI-generated feedback is for your benefit and does not guarantee funding. All final decisions are made by a human evaluation committee. Assess EOI for Eligibility

The Process

The REEF process involves several from initial consultation to project completion. The steps are described in the table below.

Step	Description
Expression of Interest Submission	EOIs are meant to provide a general overview of your proposed project to allow the CRI to determine its eligibility and priority. EOIs should be brief and take only a few hours to complete. Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) by November 21, 2025, to cri-cir@tbs-sct.gc.ca. Due to high demand, not all eligible projects will be invited to submit full proposals. The CRI will use the priority criteria outlines in section 4 of the Expression of Interest (EOI) to select which project to invite to the proposal stage.
Expression of Interest Decisions	The CRI will assess all EOI and may follow up for more information as required. The CRI will consult its working group, composed of members from various regulators, to obtain advice on which EOIs to invite to submit a proposal. The CRI will communicate with all applicants to inform them of the status of their EOI. We anticipate to communicate this update early in the new year. Only applicants invited to the proposal step will continue the application process.
Proposal Development	Applicants must obtain support from Director General or above before initiating the proposal development. The CRI will meet with you to plan the proposal development process and will support you throughout. The proposal will be used to allow the CRI Steering Committee to make a funding decision on your project based on: Eligibility: The project meets the eligibility criteria set out in the EOI template. Viability: The likelihood the project will achieve its objectives. Public Benefits: The extent to which the project will benefit Canadians.
Funding Decision	Funding decisions are made by the CRI Steering Committee, composed of Directors General from TC, HC, ECCC, ISED, CFR, PCO, and TBS. Projects that are approved for funding will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CRI to support the transfer of funds.
Memorandum of Understanding	CRI works with the applicant to develop and finalize an MOU MOU outlines conditions of funding, reporting requirements, and committed funds
Reporting	Applicants must submit progress reports to the CRI as negotiated in the MOU. At the end of the project, applicants provide a final report summarizing their project and key learnings and outcomes.
Lessons Learned and Knowledge Sharing	CRI organizes opportunities to share and discuss learnings with interested audiences CRI prepares and publishes a report summarizing key lessons learned from regulatory experiments Presentations may be given to raise awareness, with project lead verification for any project details

Application Documents

Document	Description
Regulators' Experimentation Toolkit	Toolkit for regulatory experiments and sandboxes
Expression of Interest (EOI) Template	Template for submitting initial interest

Ongoing Projects - TO BE UPDATED

For examples of current successful REEF projects, expand the table below.

Department/Agency	Project Title	Project Description
Transport Canada (TC)	Light Sport Aircraft	Transport Canada is conducting a regulatory experiment to assess the suitability of Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) for use in flight training. The project aims to evaluate LSA certified by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in Canadian flight training environments. Working with selected flight schools, Transport Canada will gather data on aircraft performance, reliability, and training quality. The experiment seeks to inform potential updates to regulations, potentially allowing more modern and environmentally friendly aircraft options for pilot training while maintaining safety standards.
Health Canada (HC)	Advanced Therapeutic Products Framework for CAR-T Products	Health Canada is developing a regulatory sandbox for Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy products manufactured at the point of care. This experiment aims to test a co-creation process for developing tailored regulatory requirements under Health Canada's Advanced Therapeutic Products pathway. The project will involve collaboration with various stakeholders to design market access authorization requirements for these innovative cancer treatments. The goal is to create an adaptive regulatory framework that maintains safety standards while facilitating faster access to new therapies.
Canada Energy Regulator (CER)	Assessing Compliance of Potential New Requirements to Prevent and Address Impacts to Indigenous Rights and Interests: A Regulatory Experiment	The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is conducting a regulatory experiment to develop and test new requirements for preventing and addressing impacts to Indigenous rights and interests related to energy infrastructure projects. The experiment aims to enhance Indigenous involvement in compliance verification and oversight processes. Using a co-creation approach with Indigenous communities and other stakeholders, the CER will develop tailored regulatory requirements and test a joint compliance verification process. The project seeks to strengthen measures to protect Indigenous rights while informing updates to CER's regulatory framework.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)	Facilitating Industry Collaboration to Streamline Regulatory Pathways for Novel Fertilizers	Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in collaboration with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), aims to streamline regulatory pathways for novel fertilizers in Canada. The project will test an industry-developed prioritization matrix to identify key ingredients for potential exemption from registration, potentially reducing the backlog of premarket applications. It will evaluate the effectiveness of allocating CFIA resources towards expanding the List of Materials (LOM) and explore industry collaboration in prioritizing materials and developing application packages. By comparing the costs and efficiency of adding materials to the LOM versus reviewing individual registration applications, the project seeks to inform strategies for reducing regulatory burdens while maintaining safety standards. This approach could lead to faster market access for novel fertilizers, supporting agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability in Canada.
Transport Canada (TC)	Enabling Commercial Space Launch in Canada	Transport Canada (TC) is using a regulatory sandbox to test and refine an interim regulatory regime that enables commercial space launch activities in Canada in a safe and secure manner. In the sandbox, TC will authorize Canadian companies to conduct space launches to help evaluate TC’s launch authorization requirements, review process and oversight approach. This project will help inform the development of a permanent regulatory framework that enables growth in the commercial space launch industry in Canada, while ensuring their activities are safe and secure.
Transport Canada (TC)	Establishing a Battery Electric and Hydrogen-Powered Locomotive Regulatory Sandbox (in support of Rail Safety and Decarbonization)	Transport Canada (TC) is using a regulatory sandbox to develop and test standards requirements for new hydrogen and battery-powered locomotives that foster industry innovation while maintaining safety. In the sandbox, rail companies will comply with the standards requirements in real world operations to help TC evaluate standards burden, inspection outcomes, and the impact on innovation. This project will help inform the development of a permanent regulatory regime that allows Canadian companies the flexibility to develop these new locomotives, while ensuring they are used safely.
View list of completed projects and experimentation reports

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact the CRI at cri-cir@tbs-sct.gc.ca.