Question Period Note: Regulatory Cooperation and Mutual Recognition

What is the Government of Canada doing to advance regulatory cooperation within Canada and with our international trading partners?

• The Government is committed to working with provinces and territories to unleash free trade in Canada.
• To uphold this commitment, the Government intends to remove federal barriers to interprovincial trade. This will enable Canadians to work and conduct business freely across all provinces and territories.
• This has the potential to boost Canada’s economy by
hundreds of billions of dollars.
• This work is already underway in the trucking sector, through a project to mutually recognize regulatory requirements across all provinces and territories.
• As well, the Government continues to identify outdated or unnecessary rules to reduce red tape.

Mutual Recognition and Internal Trade:
• In Budget 2023, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities, was tasked with leading and advancing on federal, provincial, and territorial internal trade efforts, to explore mutual recognition of regulatory standards.
• Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) is supporting Privy Council Office (PCO)- Intergovernmental Affairs’ efforts, as directed at a September 2024 meeting of the Committee on Internal Trade, to develop a pilot project to mutually recognize regulatory requirements in the trucking sector. The objective of the pilot is to improve the efficient movement of goods by having provinces and territories mutually recognize their regulatory requirements to allow trucks and goods to move more efficiency, without compromising safety and security.
• To advance regulatory cooperation with provinces/territories, TBS is the federal representative on the Regulatory Cooperation Table (RCT). The RCT was established in 2017 to reduce domestic barriers to trade, facilitate investment and labour mobility, and encourage common processes. Current priority is to negotiate a Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) on the sale and use of consumer goods (excl. food), with a deadline of Fall 2025.
Legislation to remove federal barriers to internal trade:
• TBS is working with PCO-Intergovernmental Affairs on legislation to eliminate all federal barriers to internal trade and labour mobility, which it plans to introduce in Parliament by July 1, 2025.
• To support this work, TBS is coordinating with federal departments/agencies to identify federal regulatory requirements that overlap with provincial rules and identify any necessary exemptions from the legislative proposal (e.g. international trade obligations).
• In parallel, drafting of the legislation is underway in order to meet the July 1, 2025, deadline announced by the Prime Minister to introduce the legislation.
Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC):
• Work between TBS and the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on the Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council is currently paused due to the U.S. deregulatory agenda, however, lines of communication remain open regarding opportunities for regulatory cooperation.
• Once the administration releases their Spring 2025 Unified Agenda for Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions, TBS will work with Canadian regulatory departments to identify opportunities for cooperation.
• The Trump Administration is undertaking unprecedented systemic deregulation in the energy, environment, natural resources, finance, health, safety, transportation, fishing, and technology sectors. They are also engaging in structural deregulation of the U.S. government bureaucracy through workforce and spending reductions.
• The Trump Administration is also deregulating through Executive Order by requiring agencies to identify 10 existing regulations or guidance documents to be revoked for every new regulation being added, applying the OIRA regulatory review process to independent agencies, and requiring agencies revisit their statutory authorizations of existing regulations.

Canada-EU Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF)
• The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) is a subcommittee under the Canada- European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and plays an important role in fostering cooperation between Canadian and EU regulatory authorities. It provides a unique space for experts to exchange information, identify areas for regulatory cooperation and address shared priorities.

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