Browse regulations

Federal zoning regulation that establishes imaginary aviation safety surfaces around Abbotsford Airport, prohibiting any structures or objects from exceeding these surfaces and banning waste disposal that could attract birds on approximately 4,800 hectares of surrounding land.

This regulation imposes severe restrictions on private property rights and productive land use around the airport, creating a prohibited development zone that suppresses economic activity, housing supply, and entrepreneurial initiative. While aviation safety is legitimate, this top-down federal zoning overrides local decision-making and stifles wealth creation through centralized planning. The unseen costs—foregone development, reduced property values, and constrained market activity—far outweigh safety benefits that could be achieved through less restrictive mechanisms like voluntary easements, local zoning coordination, or market-based compensation for flight path restrictions. The regulation represents the worst of regulatory overreach: it substitutes government decree for price signals and voluntary exchange, permanently immobilizing land that could otherwise generate prosperity for the Abbotsford region.

Regulations establishing procedures for substituted service of notices when personal service is impractical for National Energy Board matters, including methods like leaving with adults, registered mail, publication, and other Board-approved methods.

Without these procedures, individuals could evade legal notice by avoiding personal service, undermining regulatory enforcement and due process. The substituted service methods ensure proper notification while maintaining legal standards for energy infrastructure oversight.

Establishes licensing for oil/gas operations with application requirements ($25 fee, written submission), prohibits licence transfers, mandates authorization for various activities, and requires immediate spill reporting.

Licensing creates artificial barriers to entry and supply restrictions. Transfer prohibition eliminates market-based licence trading. Activity authorization imposes prior restraint on routine operations, adding delays and costs. Spill reporting could be handled through tort liability instead of regulatory mandates, reducing bureaucracy while maintaining accountability.

Declares specific corporations as having special status under subsection 45(6) of the Canadian Ownership and Control Determination Act, likely exempting them from foreign ownership restrictions in the energy and resource sectors.

Creates artificial market distortions by granting special privileges to specific corporations, leading to inefficiency, reduced competition, higher costs for Canadians, and cronyism, while violating equal treatment under law and discouraging broad-based investment and innovation.

This order designates specific entities as having 'special status' under the Canadian Ownership and Control Determination Act, exempting them from certain foreign ownership restrictions that apply to other companies in Canada's energy and financial sectors.

Creates arbitrary exceptions to foreign ownership rules that distort market competition, favor politically connected entities, and establish a two-tiered system where certain companies receive preferential treatment while others face restrictions. This undermines free market principles and creates economic inefficiencies by protecting incumbents rather than letting competition determine optimal ownership structures.

A 1982 regulation providing government loan insurance for Chrysler Canada with conditions: plant conversions, mandatory employment levels (9-11% relative to US parent), $821M investment mandate, and exclusive licensing, covering 1983-1994.

Obsolete corporate bailout whose retention legitimizes harmful industrial policy. The program's costs include taxpayer risk transfer, mandated employment distorting labor markets, regulatory micromanagement, and precedent for picking winners - all while serving no current purpose.

Regulation authorizes up to $13M in government loans and $1M in loan guarantees to Baie Verte Mines Inc. (an asbestos mining subsidiary) for reactivation of a mine in Newfoundland, with extensive government oversight via a Monitoring Committee controlling spending, employment levels, and operations.

This is corporate welfare that distorts capital allocation, creates moral hazard, and subjects private enterprise to government micromanagement. The regulation exemplifies the unseen costs of intervention: resources diverted from productive uses, dependency on political support, and violation of economic liberty. As a 1982 measure targeting a specific company, it is almost certainly obsolete and should be repealed to affirm that businesses succeed or fail based on market signals, not taxpayer subsidies and bureaucratic control.

These Regulations allow Canadian residents to temporarily import vehicles, aircraft, or other conveyances into Canada duty-free under specific conditions. It defines 'commuter' and 'conveyance', outlines permitted uses (primarily personal transportation and moving household effects), prohibits commercial use and leisure touring, sets a 30-day time limit (extendable to 90 days), and allows the Minister to require security for potential duties.

Deleting this regulation would force Canadian residents to pay duties upfront and seek refunds, creating unnecessary administrative burden and discouraging legitimate temporary imports for cross-border workers, movers, and those facing emergencies. The regulation reduces friction for mobility while reasonably preventing abuse of the duty-free privilege in a way that would be cumbersome to implement otherwise.

This regulation allows the Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce to provide insurance up to $27 million USD or 90% of loans made to Maislin Industries Ltd. and its subsidiary, Maislin Transport Ltd., to promote their growth and international competitiveness. It establishes criteria for private lenders, application procedures, and terms for insurance payouts including provisions for early repayment.

This regulation represents government interference in private lending markets, creating moral hazard by insuring loans to specific companies. It distorts capital allocation by favoring certain businesses over others, undermines market discipline, and exposes taxpayers to unnecessary risk. The special treatment for one Quebec-based company creates unfair competitive advantages and sets a dangerous precedent for industrial policy intervention.

Establishes the Nova Scotia Winter Grain Marketing Board and authorizes it to regulate wheat marketing in interprovincial and export trade, granting it powers to control sales through orders and regulations under the Natural Products Marketing Act.

Government marketing boards distort price signals, restrict farmers' property rights, suppress competition, and create inefficiencies that reduce agricultural productivity and prosperity. The unintended consequences include reduced supply, higher consumer costs, and barriers to interprovincial trade—contradicting the stated goal of fostering competitive markets. Any alleged benefits could be achieved through voluntary producer cooperation in a free market without coercive regulation.

This regulation establishes zoning controls around Fort Nelson Airport to protect aviation safety by restricting building heights, managing wildlife attractants, and controlling land use within approach and transitional surfaces extending from the airport runways.

Aviation safety requires these height restrictions and land use controls to prevent collisions with aircraft, ensure clear approach paths for pilots, and manage wildlife hazards. Without these protections, the airport would face operational risks, potential closures, and increased accident probabilities that would harm the local economy and public safety.

Regulation provides customs duty and tax refunds for new motor vehicles exported from Canada, covering both imported and Canadian-manufactured vehicles, with specific eligibility criteria and documentation requirements.

This export subsidy distorts market signals by favoring motor vehicle exports through tax benefits not available to domestic sales. It represents industrial policy that misallocates capital, creates compliance burdens, and violates the principle that taxation should not discriminate based on destination. The regulation's complexity invites gaming while its narrow focus picks winners contrary to free-market outcomes driven by comparative advantage.

Procedural rules governing the National Farm Products Marketing Council's hearings, applications, and complaints, including filing requirements, service procedures, discovery rules, hearing conduct, and decision-making processes for matters under the Farm Products Agencies Act

These rules create complex administrative burdens that increase transaction costs and erect barriers to participation, favoring incumbents with resources to navigate the system. They are an integral component of Canada's supply management regime, which artificially restricts agricultural production, limits interprovincial trade, and inflates consumer prices. The procedural formalities add zero productive value while entrenching regulatory control over markets that should be determined by voluntary exchange and property rights. The entire Council framework violates the classical liberal principles of economic liberty and should be dismantled.

Government insurance program guaranteeing full loss coverage for private loans to a single Newfoundland company (The Lake Group Ltd.), with an $18 million aggregate limit requiring Treasury Board approval to exceed.

This is corporate welfare that distorts markets, creates moral hazard by socializing private lending losses, misallocates capital to one politically connected firm, and violates principles of equal treatment and economic liberty. Taxpayers bear risk while private lenders keep profits, encouraging reckless lending and unfair competition. Canadians would be better off with neutral financial markets where all companies compete on merit without special government guarantees.

This regulation provides government-backed insurance for private loans made to St. Anthony Fisheries Limited, a specific Newfoundland company, covering up to $10 million in loan defaults.

This is corporate welfare for a single company, creating unfair competitive advantage, moral hazard, and exposing taxpayers to risk. Private lenders and investors should bear their own risk assessment; if St. Anthony Fisheries cannot secure financing without government backstops, it doesn't deserve subsidized credit over its competitors. The regulation violates equality before the law by picking one company for special treatment.