Browse regulations

This regulation establishes a temporary amnesty period (until October 30, 2026) for individuals who legally possessed certain prohibited firearms before a regulatory reclassification. It permits eligible licence holders to possess, transport, store, deactivate, or destroy these firearms under strict conditions, with exceptions for hunting rights (for those whose firearms were previously non-restricted) and activities involving police, carriers, or licensed businesses.

Deleting this amnesty would immediately criminalize thousands of law-abiding Canadians who legally acquired these firearms before the reclassification, forcing them to surrender property they obtained in good faith without any transition period. The regulation provides a structured, low-risk pathway for compliant disposal while respecting existing property rights and minimizing public safety risks during the transition. Without it, the alternative would be abrupt confiscation and prosecution, which would destroy wealth, create unnecessary victims of the justice system, and erode trust in government.

Regulation governing possession and export of American eel elvers (under 10cm) through a licensing system. Requires Minister-issued licenses for possession/export with extensive conditions, record-keeping (5-year retention), chain-of-custody tracking, and container sealing rules. Contains numerous exceptions for licensed fishers, aquaculture, transporters, and government personnel.

Creates unnecessary barriers to economic activity through licensing monopoly, imposes heavy administrative burden with 5-year record retention, and grants excessive Ministerial discretion. Conservation goals could be achieved through market-based alternatives like property rights or tradable quotas with minimal reporting focused on harvest quantities rather than controlling every possession transfer. The regulation's complexity creates deadweight losses, invites regulatory capture, and likely spawns black markets by restricting legitimate trade in a high-value commodity. The chain-of-custody requirements are particularly burdensome for a small-scale fishery.

Regulation controls land use in national parks, requiring permits for construction, land alteration, occupancy, and subdivision. It imposes floor area caps on cottages, prohibits timeshares, mandates compliance with building codes, and grants superintendent broad discretion to impose conditions, inspect, and enforce.

Restricts supply and increases costs through permit requirements and floor area caps, violates freedom of contract by banning timeshares, and centralizes decision-making with excessive discretion. The regulation achieves environmental protection via command-and-control, creating inefficiency, uncertainty, and suppressed innovation while failing to harness market-based stewardship.

Sanctions regulation prohibiting dealings with listed Guatemalan individuals and entities tied to human rights abuses, with financial institution monitoring duties and various exceptions.

Restricts economic liberty and property rights via executive blacklist, imposes compliance burdens on financial institutions, risks collateral damage to innocent family members and associates, and undermines rule-of-law by punishing without judicial process. The costs outweigh benefits, as accountability goals could be pursued through criminal law and extradition with fewer distortions to markets and individual freedoms.

Establishes the Canadian Industrial Hemp Promotion-Research Agency with nine elected members representing producers and importers, headquartered in Calgary, with authority to impose compulsory levies on industry participants to fund promotional and research activities for interprovincial and international trade.

Compulsory levies violate property rights and force market participants to subsidize promotion. The agency creates regulatory capture risks, distorts market signals, imposes hidden costs on consumers, and represents unnecessary government intervention that reduces efficiency and liberty. Private voluntary mechanisms can achieve these goals without coercion.

Regulation mandates that tents and their components/accessories sold in Canada must meet specific flammability and labelling requirements from the CAN/CGSB-182.1-2020 safety standard. It defines 'tent', provides testing requirements, and includes transitional provisions for updating standards.

The regulation preempts private liability by mandating specific technical standards, creating barriers to entry for innovative manufacturers, raising consumer costs, and reducing market responsiveness to actual safety needs. Safety is better determined through price signals, insurance, tort law, and voluntary certification than by centralized bureaucratic standards that cannot adapt to diverse use cases and technological change.

This regulation repeals an existing order protecting critical habitat of the White Sturgeon Nechako River population under the Species at Risk Act, while maintaining protections for the remaining critical habitat in the Nechako River Bird Sanctuary.

Repealing habitat protection for an endangered species removes environmental safeguards, potentially accelerating extinction risk. The unseen costs include ecosystem disruption, loss of biodiversity, and undermining Canada's international conservation commitments. Regulatory rollback in this case prioritizes short-term economic interests over long-term environmental sustainability and species preservation.

These regulations permit businesses to ship prohibited firearms and devices by post during amnesty periods (2020, 2024, 2025) under specific security conditions, overriding standard storage/transportation rules for the purpose of government destruction programs.

Creates special privileges for government-approved destruction programs while imposing complex security requirements that increase costs and create regulatory uncertainty for businesses. The same safety outcomes could be achieved through existing general shipping regulations without creating carve-outs that distort market operations.

This regulation applies the Species at Risk Act to the critical habitat of the Spotted Gar fish, excluding certain protected areas, and repeals a previous order from 2017.

Protecting endangered species habitat prevents irreversible biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, which would harm fisheries, tourism, and future generations' options. The economic costs of species extinction far exceed regulatory compliance costs.

This Order imposes punitive surtaxes on goods originating from China, with two tiers: 100% on Schedule 1 items and 25% on Schedule 2 items. It defines 'goods that originate in China' by reference to another regulation and includes a narrow transition exclusion for goods already in transit on specific dates.

This regulation is a protectionist trade weapon that raises costs for Canadian consumers and businesses, invites retaliatory tariffs on Canadian exports, distorts market price signals, and reduces overall economic welfare. The unseen costs include passed-through price inflation, supply chain disruptions, reduced competitiveness, and escalated trade tensions that harm Canadian exporters. Trade disputes should be resolved diplomatically, not through punitive tariffs that act as hidden taxes on Canadians. Free voluntary exchange creates wealth; barriers to it destroy it.

These regulations impose economic sanctions on individuals and entities associated with Hamas, prohibiting Canadians from engaging in financial transactions, providing services, or transferring property to listed persons, with specific exemptions for existing contracts, pension payments, and legal services.

Canadians would be worse off if these sanctions were deleted because they prevent financial support for terrorist organizations and protect Canadian institutions from being used to fund attacks against Israel, while still allowing essential services like pension payments and legal representation.

Regulation governing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products including restrictions on retail dosage forms, brand names, flavours (limiting to mint/menthol except on List), advertising content, and mandatory bilingual health warnings. Requires extensive licensing documentation and prohibits marketing that could appeal to persons under 18.

The regulation imposes substantial unseen costs: it restricts consumer choice and product innovation through arbitrary flavour bans; creates barriers to entry via onerous licensing; and delegates vast discretion to regulators to judge what 'appeals to youth.' These interventions distort market signals that would otherwise coordinate supply with consumer demand for cessation aids. The paternalistic approach treats adults as incapable of making informed choices and may reduce smoking cessation by making NRT less appealing. Core consumer protection can be achieved through simple age verification, basic safety standards, and mandatory warnings without controlling product attributes.

Designates the Tuvaijuittuq Marine Protected Area in the Arctic Ocean off northern Ellesmere Island, protecting unique geological features, marine life, and habitats while allowing national defence and marine scientific research activities. Exempts Inuit wildlife harvesting rights under the Nunavut Agreement and allows foreign navigation and cable/pipeline infrastructure.

Canadians would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it protects unique Arctic marine ecosystems that provide irreplaceable environmental benefits and scientific research opportunities. The regulation balances conservation with necessary activities like defence and research, and respects Inuit rights under existing agreements.

Regulation establishes employment framework for locally engaged staff (LES) working in Canadian diplomatic/consular missions and military support units abroad. LES are excluded from the Public Service Employment Act. Grants deputy heads broad discretion to appoint (on merit as they define), manage, and terminate employees with minimal oversight (reporting every 5 years). Allows temporary appointments up to 125 days/year. Notice periods: 1 day for temporary staff, 1 month for lay-offs. Employment ends by period expiry, lay-off, or resignation.

Canadians would be worse off because diplomatic and consular missions would lack a clear employment framework for locally engaged staff, creating legal uncertainty that could disrupt Canada's international operations. The regulation achieves its outcome by providing flexible, context-specific rules that can adapt to diverse host country environments—a necessity that would be difficult to replicate through a one-size-fits-all approach.

These regulations implement the Digital Services Tax Act by defining key parameters: interest rates (3-month Treasury Bill yield + 4%), global revenue threshold (€750M), in-scope revenue threshold ($20M), registration threshold ($10M), tax rate (3%), and deduction amount ($20M). It applies retroactively.

This tax targets large digital service providers with complex thresholds and calculations, creating administrative burden, distorting investment decisions, and likely passed through to Canadian consumers and businesses. It picks winners/losers among sectors and contradicts tax neutrality. The 3% rate on specified revenues with arbitrary thresholds invites regulatory arbitrage and reduces capital formation. Canada's competitiveness suffers when firms face unpredictable, single-sector taxes that discourage investment and innovation.