Guidelines for Effective Regulatory Consultations

Purpose

These guidelines are issued to advise managers and functional specialists on interpretation of the requirements of the Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulation regarding regulatory consultation and to provide tools to support effective consultations throughout the regulatory life cycle.

Context

Federal regulatory activity is governed by the Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulation, which requires that interested and affected parties be consulted on the development or amendment of regulations, the implementation of regulatory programs, and the evaluation of regulatory activity against stated objectives. Government departments and agencies must therefore make systematic efforts to ensure that interested and affected parties have the opportunity to take part in open, meaningful, and balanced consultations at all stages of the regulatory process, that is, development, implementation, evaluation, and review.

Although this guide focusses on regulatory consultation, consultation with interested and affected parties should begin long before the decision to proceed with a regulatory approach is taken. Consultations should be woven into all aspects of policy development, including the discussions as to which instrument (i.e. legislation, regulations, voluntary mechanisms, guidelines, or policy) would best meet the public policy objectives.