Browse regulations

This order provides a 97% remission of customs duties for temporary importation of vessels engaged in coasting trade for Alaska Marine Lines, Inc., valid for up to 15 months, subject to licensing, timing, and documentation requirements.

This is a narrow, time-limited tax break for a specific company that distorts market competition, creates regulatory complexity, and represents government picking winners. The duties reduction artificially lowers costs for one firm while others bear full tax burden, undermining free trade principles.

Increases the daily deduction from a senator's sessional allowance to $250 for each sitting day missed beyond 21 days, effective July 1, 1998.

Prevents abuse of public funds by holding senators accountable for attendance; deletion would allow unlimited unpunished absences, wasting taxpayer money.

Establishes rules of origin for Most-Favoured-Nation tariff benefits, requiring at least 50% of production costs to be incurred in beneficiary countries (including Canada) and direct shipment from those countries. Excludes specific costs like packing, profits, royalties, and post-manufacture charges from the calculation.

Though providing clarity, this regulation arbitrarily inflates the domestic content threshold (50%) beyond what's necessary to prevent transshipment abuse, unnecessarily restricts legitimate trade flows, and imposes costly documentation burdens on importers for a tariff regime that contradicts free-market principles. The same objectives could be achieved more simply with a de minimis rule based on substantial transformation or value-addition, reducing regulatory complexity and interference.

This regulation provides preferential (lower) customs duty rates for specific woollen fabric imports from Commonwealth countries, requiring at least 50% of production costs to originate from Commonwealth countries or Canada, with proof of origin and direct shipping requirements.

This trade preference regulation distorts market competition by artificially favoring Commonwealth countries over more efficient producers based on historical political ties rather than economic merit. It creates regulatory complexity, raises consumer costs by limiting competition, and violates the principle of equal treatment under the law that underpins free markets and prosperity.

Regulation preserves pension benefits for Public Service employees who transferred to the private entity that acquired Theratronics International Limited on or after May 1, 1998. It ensures continuity of pensionable service, death benefits, and survivor allowances across the employment transition.

Obsolete regulation tied to a specific 1998 privatization event. The affected employees would have long since retired, transferred again, or the arrangement would have terminated. Preserving this zombie regulation on the books creates unnecessary legal complexity with zero current benefit. Any remaining individuals could have had their situations addressed through grandfathering during the original transition, not via permanently codified rules that serve no one 25+ years later.

Defines 'wireless transmission system' for Copyright Act section 68.1 as terrestrial radio station transmissions in assigned frequency bands without artificial guide for free public reception. Effective May 28, 1998.

Technologically obsolete (1998), excluding modern internet/satellite broadcasting creates arbitrary distinctions that distort competition and enable regulatory arbitrage, while vague 'free reception' clause invites legal uncertainty. These costs outweigh any benefit of retaining an outdated definitional framework.

Designates Manitoba as the province whose child support guidelines apply under the Divorce Act, and specifies that the Child Support Guidelines Regulation (Man. Reg. 58/98) constitutes the comprehensive guidelines for that province.

Deleting this would create legal uncertainty about which child support guidelines govern divorce proceedings in Manitoba, undermining predictability and fairness in family law. This technical designation is a necessary coordination mechanism between federal and provincial jurisdiction that achieves its purpose efficiently and would be difficult to replace.

This regulation directs the CRTC to reserve specific radio frequencies (93.5 MHz FM and 740 kHz AM) for Toronto radio services that support Canadian broadcasting policy objectives, specifically promoting Canadian content and cultural expression.

This regulation creates artificial scarcity in radio spectrum allocation, preventing market-driven frequency assignment and potentially limiting service options for Toronto listeners. It exemplifies regulatory capture where government dictates specific technical parameters rather than allowing competitive allocation through auctions or other market mechanisms. The stated cultural objectives could be achieved through less restrictive means that don't constrain technological development or consumer choice.

Authorizes three specific Government of Canada employees to acquire or lease territorial lands in the Northwest Territories for personal residential and recreational use, including a residential lot for a RCMP officer, a residential lot for a tax auditor, and a hunting/fishing cabin for a resource management officer.

This regulation creates special privileges for government employees that are not available to ordinary Canadians, violating principles of equal treatment and creating regulatory capture. It grants preferential access to scarce territorial land resources without any public interest justification, fostering inequality and potential conflicts of interest. The regulation should be repealed entirely.

Designates New Brunswick's Child Support Guidelines Regulation (N.B. Reg. 98-27, sections 1-3) as the applicable provincial guidelines under the federal Divorce Act, ensuring consistent child support calculations in divorce proceedings within that province.

Deletion would create legal uncertainty about which child support guidelines apply in New Brunswick divorces, leading to forum shopping, inconsistent court orders, and increased litigation as parties dispute applicable standards. The regulation provides essential federal-provincial coordination that cannot be easily replicated through judicial interpretation without causing significant delay, cost, and unpredictability for families navigating divorce.

This 1997 Order grants retroactive remission of customs duties on specific goods imported between July 1, 1991 and late 1997, refunding the difference between full Schedule I tariffs and reduced rates from a 1988 order

This is a time-bound, 30-year-old administrative adjustment that long ago served its purpose. Keeping obsolete regulations creates regulatory bloat, invites misinterpretation, and undermines the principle that laws should be current and prospective. Retroactive fiscal measures also erode rule-of-law certainty.

Regulation establishing complex declaration, reporting, and authorization requirements for non-residents importing or exporting firearms and firearm parts into/out of Canada, including extensive personal and firearm details, confirmation procedures, time limits, and disposal rules.

This regulation imposes disproportionate bureaucratic burdens on peaceful individuals—hunters, sport shooters, collectors—engaging in legitimate activities. It creates a permission-based system for property movement, requires excessive personal data collection, and deters tourism and trade. The administrative costs and liberty violations far outweigh any marginal safety benefits beyond standard border controls. Such regulatory overreach treats all importers as suspects, chilling economic activity and reinforcing Canada's reputation for burdensome red tape that drives skilled individuals and commerce elsewhere.

This regulation implements export and import controls for firearms under the Firearms Act, establishing licensing requirements, documentation conditions, customs procedures, and disposal mechanisms for detained or forfeited firearms. It covers non-restricted and restricted firearms, requires businesses to provide detailed firearm information when importing, and sets conditions for cylinder, slide, bolt, breech-block, and barrel imports.

Creates costly administrative burden for legitimate businesses, restricts supply of firearms and parts leading to higher prices, and imposes complex compliance requirements that disproportionately affect small businesses while having questionable impact on actual public safety outcomes.

This regulation mandates comprehensive record-keeping for all firearms-related activities in Canada, including licence applications, registration certificates, prohibition orders, approved shooting clubs/ranges, instructors, and certifications. It establishes a central Canadian Firearms Registry managed by the Registrar and provincial chief firearms officers, with retention periods of 10 years after last administrative action (or until death for certain records), and restricts amendment authority to officials.

This regulation imposes massive privacy intrusions and bureaucratic costs while achieving minimal public safety benefits. The extensive registry includes law-abiding citizens' firearms and personal data, retained for decades, creating unacceptable security risks and chilling effects on lawful ownership. It diverts resources from targeting actual criminals, as offenders simply ignore registration. The unseen costs include permanent government surveillance, potential for future misuse of data, and violation of property rights principles. Far less restrictive alternatives exist, such as maintaining records only for prohibited firearms and individuals with actual prohibitions, with much shorter retention periods.

Regulation establishes a comprehensive approval and licensing system for shooting clubs and ranges, requiring provincial minister approval, $2M liability insurance, zoning compliance, detailed safety rules, record-keeping, reporting of injuries and changes, and restricts use to licensed individuals and club members/guests.

Creates excessive barriers to entry for legitimate recreational shooting businesses through costly insurance mandates, bureaucratic approval processes, and restrictive membership requirements. Safety is better achieved through existing tort law, voluntary certification (e.g., NRA/SSSF standards), and the inherent liability that encourages proper safety measures—all without restricting supply, raising costs, or limiting Canadians' liberty to engage in lawful recreational activities. The regulation inflates operational costs, reduces competition among ranges, and helps drive the brain drain by adding another layer of red tape to small business formation.