Browse regulations

Establishes qualification requirements for designating analysts under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, requiring degrees in relevant sciences from Canadian or recognized foreign universities, or equivalent combinations of practical experience and education.

Without proper qualifications for drug analysts, forensic evidence could be unreliable, leading to wrongful convictions, unsafe drug policies, and public safety risks. The current system ensures scientific competence in drug analysis, which is difficult to achieve through market mechanisms alone given the specialized nature of forensic toxicology and the need for standardized, court-admissible testing.

A procedural regulation specifying that Subsection 118(1) of the Customs Tariff applies to imported goods for six years after release, with the regulation itself coming into force on January 1, 1998.

The six-year timeframe is arbitrary and creates unnecessary administrative complexity and uncertainty for importers without any clear economic justification. As a 28-year-old regulation, it likely represents an outdated procedural relic that should have been repealed or updated long ago.

This regulation establishes fees for issuing capacity plates (for engine power and load capacity) and conformity plates (for construction standards compliance) at $5 each, effective April 1, 1999.

These $5 fees create unnecessary bureaucratic overhead for a nominal revenue stream, discourage small manufacturers and boat builders, and add no meaningful safety benefit beyond what market standards already provide. The regulatory cost exceeds the benefit.

This regulation requires importers to obtain certificates signed by foreign government officials when importing goods from designated countries or consigned to military agencies, verifying the goods are for government use and not for resale.

The regulation imposes unnecessary administrative burdens, transaction costs, and trade friction without clear justification. The dual-signature requirement (importer plus foreign official) creates delays and compliance costs that ultimately raise prices for Canadians. The legitimate goal of verifying eligibility for tariff treatment can be achieved more efficiently through importer declarations with penalties for false statements or existing customs verification mechanisms, avoiding foreign bureaucratic gatekeeping.

This regulation establishes The Seaway International Bridge Corporation, Ltd. as an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada, granting it authority to set bridge fees, employ staff, contract with government, and operate under modified St. Lawrence Seaway Authority Act provisions with oversight from the Canadian Transportation Agency and Auditor General.

Canadians would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it ensures essential cross-border infrastructure is maintained by a government-backed entity with stable funding mechanisms. The fee-setting authority with Agency oversight prevents predatory pricing while ensuring bridge maintenance and operations are properly funded, which is critical for trade and transportation between provinces and the US.

This regulation adapts the St. Lawrence Seaway Authority Act for The Jacques-Cartier and Champlain Bridges Inc., a federal crown corporation. It establishes the corporation as an agent of the Crown, grants fee-setting powers (subject to cost-recovery rules and anti-discrimination review), specifies employment terms, and mandates Auditor General oversight.

Government monopoly control over bridge infrastructure eliminates private competition, leading to inefficiency, higher costs, and reduced innovation. Cost-based fee regulation distorts market pricing and usage, while bureaucratic oversight adds unnecessary administrative burden. The agent status exposes taxpayers to risk without market discipline, and special employment provisions distort labor markets.

This regulation prescribes documentation requirements for refund applications under section 110 of the Customs Tariff, mandating a certified officer document identifying obsolete/surplus goods and supporting paperwork, with substitution allowed when officers are unavailable.

The officer certification creates a bureaucratic bottleneck that delays legitimate refunds, ties up capital, and imposes compliance costs without providing fraud prevention benefits that cannot be achieved through simpler verification methods. This unnecessary procedural hurdle distorts incentives and creates friction in cross-border trade.

Waives anti-dumping and countervailing duties on food donated by non-residents to registered charities for charitable distribution in Canada, with conditions including that the charity is the importer, food is not for sale, and claims are filed within two years.

Deleting this would impose duties on charitable food donations, raising costs for registered charities and reducing food available for vulnerable populations. The regulation achieves its goal through a simple, targeted remission mechanism that prevents abuse while facilitating international humanitarian assistance. Canadians would be worse off with less charitable distribution and higher operating costs for organizations serving those in need.

Provides temporary exemptions from customs penalties for goods diverted or consumed in response to emergencies such as medical crises, fires, floods, or environmental disasters.

Canadians would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it removes bureaucratic barriers during critical emergencies, allowing faster response to life-threatening situations without the threat of customs penalties for goods that must be redirected or consumed to save lives or protect property.

Regulation outlines procedures for customs officers to determine if goods from NAFTA countries are properly marked, listing materials they may review and requiring notice determinations to importers, exporters, and producers. It references NAFTA-specific marking requirements under the Customs Act.

Obsolesence: NAFTA was replaced by USMCA/CUSMA in 2020, rendering this regulation void. Keeping it creates legal confusion, unnecessary administrative burden, and potential conflicts with current trade agreement requirements. The regulation serves no legitimate purpose today and should be formally repealed to reduce regulatory clutter.

Establishes a licensing regime for international submarine telecommunications cables operating in or through Canadian waters. Requires application with corporate details, cable route, environmental assessment compliance, and annual $100 fee.

Canadians would be worse off without this regulation as it provides the essential enforcement mechanism for environmental protection of marine ecosystems from submarine cable installation and operation. It also coordinates seabed use to prevent conflicts with fishing, energy, and other ocean activities while maintaining sovereign oversight of critical telecommunications infrastructure. Achieving these objectives through alternative means would be prohibitively costly due to monitoring challenges and free-rider problems inherent in profit-driven cable deployment.

Sets a $15M threshold exemption from Governor in Council approval for Government of Nunavut residential lease agreements under the Nunavut Act.

Deleting this would force all residential leases—even minor ones—through onerous federal approval, crippling Nunavut's operational efficiency and increasing costs for taxpayers. The exemption achieves legitimate oversight while enabling timely, localized decisions that a distant cabinet cannot reasonably micromanage.

Provides time-limited amnesty (1998-2005 for individuals; 2003 for businesses) from criminal liability for possessing prohibited handguns acquired before December 1, 1998, if the possessor is in the process of legally disposing of the firearm through deactivation, export, surrender, or transfer to licensed entities.

Keeping this expired regulation imposes costs through regulatory clutter, legal uncertainty, and legitimization of partial remedies that delay full repeal of firearms prohibitions. It continues to consume administrative resources while failing to restore fundamental property rights, and its temporal amnesty structure creates a false precedent that the state can criminalize possession and then grant limited grace periods — an approach that undermines rule of law and Canadian prosperity through sustained regulatory burden.

This regulation excludes certain handguns and their barrels from the definition of prohibited firearms and prohibited devices in the Criminal Code, effectively making them legal to possess. It came into force in 1998.

Creates regulatory complexity without clear benefit. The exclusion appears to be an arbitrary carve-out that distorts the market and creates uncertainty about which firearms are actually prohibited. Such selective exclusions undermine the consistency of criminal law and create loopholes that benefit special interests while confusing law-abiding citizens.

Defines which firearms qualify as 'antique' under the Criminal Code, exempting them from modern firearms regulations based on technical specifications such as manufacturing date, type, and cartridge.

Arbitrarily restricts the antique exemption to obscure calibers and large bores, infringing property rights and creating legal complexity without a coherent public safety justification. It perpetuates state control and distorts historical preservation by excluding firearms using common calibers.