Inside Regulatory Affairs - June 2022

This sixth edition of our newsletter highlights opportunities for stakeholders to provide input on cross-border regulatory issues and provides updates on ongoing efforts undertaken by TBS-RAS and its partners to improve the federal regulatory system, such as the second Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill.

One month left to share your thoughts on regulatory cooperation!

On April 27, we launched a pilot online interactive engagement platform: Let’s Talk Federal Regulations. The goal of this platform is to gather input from Canadian businesses, organizations, and individuals on ways to improve the federal regulatory system. Our first project is currently seeking input on regulatory cooperation issues and is open until June 27, 2022.

Note that we have added a question on supply chains to help explore this topic in more detail.

For more information and/or to share your ideas and perspectives on this topic please visit the Breaking down inter-jurisdictional barriers webpage. Your input is extremely valuable to us!

Second Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill (Bill S-6)

In the 2018 Fall Economic Statement, the Government of Canada introduced the Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill (ARMB), which makes regular, common-sense updates to existing legislation to ensure Canada’s regulatory system continues to adapt to changing technologies and reflects the realities of Canadian businesses. The first proposed ARMB led to amendments to 12 pieces of legislation through the 2019 Budget Implementation Act. The second ARMB was introduced in Parliament in March 2022, under the title Bill S-6: An Act respecting regulatory modernization.

If passed by Parliament, many of the proposed amendments stemming from Bill S–6 would reduce administrative burden for business, facilitate digital interactions with government, simplify regulatory processes, make exemptions from certain regulatory requirements to test new products, and make cross-border trade easier through more consistent and coherent rules across governments.

For more information on Bill S-6, please click here.

The way you comment on proposed regulations is getting easier

Since April 2021, the Canada Gazette has been piloting a new online commenting feature for a selection of proposed regulations in Canada Gazette, Part I. This feature allows stakeholders to review proposed regulations and submit their comments directly on the Canada Gazette webpage and increases the transparency and accountability of the regulatory process.

This commenting feature will have the added benefit of generating a better understanding of the regulatory concerns and challenges of Canadians and stakeholders. To learn more about this new feature visit the Canada Gazette Comment on Proposed Regulations webpage.

Full implementation of the feature is targeted for September 27, 2022. For more information or to share your thoughts and experiences using this feature, please contact [[1]].

Canada–European Union Regulatory Cooperation Forum Fourth Annual Meeting

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provides the framework for regulatory cooperation activities, including the establishment of the Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF).

The fourth annual meeting of the RCF took place on Tuesday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 4, 2022. The RCF Co-chairs met with Canadian and European regulators and stakeholders via videoconference to discuss issues of mutual interest, including consumer product safety, cosmetic-like drug products, pediatric medicines, and animal welfare. A summary of discussions will be shared publicly in the form of a report this summer.

Please visit our website on the Canada-European Union Regulatory Cooperation Forum to learn more about the forum, its success stories, and upcoming meetings. You are welcome to send inquiries related to the RCF to [[2]].

Promoting Regulatory Innovation and Experimentation

The Centre for Regulatory Innovation at TBS works with regulators to help them test new regulatory approaches so that new and innovative products can be brought to market. To learn more about these projects, visit our GCWiki page.  

New Secretary of the Treasury Board

We take this opportunity to mention that since our last regular newsletter edition that was shared in December, we welcomed Graham Flack as Secretary of the Treasury Board.