Browse regulations

This regulation authorizes the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans to charge fees for a wide range of special services, including fisheries infrastructure, resource development, inspections, navigation charts, oceanographic science, and more. Fees may be set at full cost, or at partial cost if full cost would seriously harm users, undermine service objectives, or if commercial equivalents exist. Partial fees should be as high as possible or match commercial rates. Waivers allowed for registered charities.

Keeping this regulation entrenches government monopoly in sectors that thrive under private enterprise, distorting markets and crowding out competition. Even full cost recovery cannot overcome bureaucratic inefficiency; partial recovery and waivers introduce subsidies that misallocate resources. The unseen cost is the suppression of innovation, entrepreneurial dynamism, and the legitimate role of voluntary exchange in a free society.

1988 remission order providing tax relief to Quebec residents who received provincial family allowances, ensuring they weren't taxed twice on those benefits for that specific year.

Obsolete one-time measure from 1988; serves no current purpose and adds regulatory clutter without benefit. The original issue of double taxation of Quebec family allowances is historical and no longer relevant.

This regulation precisely defines the geographic boundaries for six National Wildlife Areas (St. Clair, Stalwart, Tway, Raven Island, and Columbia with multiple units) across Ontario, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. It identifies specific Crown land parcels by legal description, facilitating their designation as protected conservation areas under federal management.

These small, ecologically vital parcels protect wildlife habitat and biodiversity, providing diffuse public benefits that markets would not preserve. Without government designation, concentrated development interests would degrade or destroy irreplaceable ecosystems. The regulation's clear boundary definitions ensure permanent protection and could not be replicated reliably through voluntary private arrangements, making its deletion a net loss to Canada's natural capital and long-term environmental health.

Bilateral social security agreement between Canada and Germany establishing coordination of pension benefits, allowing for totalization of coverage periods, and defining applicable legislation for cross-border workers and residents.

This agreement facilitates mobility between two major trading partners, prevents double taxation, and ensures retirement security for citizens who have worked in both countries. Without it, cross-border workers would face complex administrative burdens and potential loss of pension benefits.

Pasta Remission Order 1988 provides customs duty remission for specific types of pasta imported under certain tariff items during specified time periods, with claims required within three years of importation.

This regulation creates market distortion by selectively remitting duties for specific pasta products, artificially lowering prices for certain imports while creating compliance costs and regulatory complexity. It interferes with free market price signals and creates unfair advantages for some pasta producers over others.

Criminal appeal procedures for Newfoundland's Supreme Court Trial Division, establishing formal processes for filing notices of appeal, serving documents, preparing transcripts, and conducting appeals from summary conviction courts.

Canadians would be worse off if this regulation was deleted because it provides essential procedural safeguards for criminal appeals, ensuring due process, timely resolution of cases, and preventing arbitrary denial of appeal rights. The structured process prevents procedural chaos and protects both defendants' rights to appeal and prosecutors' ability to challenge acquittals.

Authorizes Environment Minister to charge fees for environmental services (weather, climate, water, wildlife data, etc.) based on whole costs, with discretion to reduce fees when full recovery would harm users, undermine objectives, or commercial alternatives exist. Waivers for registered charities.

Crowds out private competition in environmental services, creates barriers to entry through discretionary fee-setting that can undercut private providers, restricts access to important data, and relies on government inefficiency instead of market-driven innovation. The regulation's flexibility allows for abuse and lacks price signals ensuring optimal resource allocation.

Remission of customs duties and sales tax for defence supplies imported by Oerlikon companies for Low Level Air Defence System production under Department of National Defence contract, valid April 1, 1986 to April 1, 1995

This regulation provides tax relief for critical defence procurement that enables Canada to acquire advanced military technology at competitive prices. Without this remission, the government would pay significantly more for essential air defence systems, reducing national security capabilities or forcing taxpayers to bear higher costs for the same equipment.

This order provides for remission (refund) of excise duties on domestic spirits that are destroyed because they are unfit for human consumption, under specific conditions including supervision by an excise officer and timely application.

Without this remission, distillers would pay taxes on goods they cannot sell due to unavoidable production waste (e.g., contamination, spoilage). This creates a punitive double-loss, raising effective tax rates and costs for Canadian producers, reducing competitiveness versus foreign producers who face no such tax on waste, and ultimately increasing prices for consumers or deterring investment. The regulation prevents this unintended economic harm by aligning tax liability with actual market supply.

This Order grants remission (refund) of excise taxes and customs duties on goods imported by organizations accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, solely for testing or examination purposes. Conditions include application within two years of importation, goods must be used by accredited organizations, not sold, and exported or destroyed after testing.

This selective tax exemption costs taxpayers revenue, distorts competitive markets by favoring accredited entities over non-accredited competitors, and creates unnecessary compliance burdens. It incentivizes rent-seeking for accreditation, artificially props up specific business models that might not survive without subsidies, and undermines equal treatment under tax law. The unseen consequences include reduced innovation from excluded competitors, higher certification costs passed to consumers, and government resources diverted to administering favoritism rather than core functions.

Provides remission of customs duties and sales tax on pet food imported specifically for animal testing (palatability and nutritional adequacy), conditional on claims filed within two years of importation.

It is a targeted subsidy that distorts market resource allocation, creates rent-seeking opportunities, and adds administrative complexity. Pet food companies already have strong private incentives to test products for quality, safety, and liability without government intervention.

This Order grants remission of customs duties and taxes on personal imports by US diplomatic and consular staff in Canada, subject to conditions including ambassador approval and two-year claim period, and exempts from duties on disposition after holding periods (1 year for non-vehicles, 2 years for vehicles).

Deleting this would trigger reciprocal treatment against Canadian diplomats in the US, imposing significant personal costs on our foreign service personnel and damaging critical bilateral relations with our largest trading partner. The revenue loss is minimal compared to the diplomatic value and standard international practice under Vienna Convention privileges.

Remits customs duties on computer equipment imported by Canadian companies for systems software development contracts with foreign firms, conditional on export of equipment and software within three years and strict record-keeping.

Obsolete 1984 regulation imposes bureaucratic burdens, distorts incentives toward foreign partnerships, forces export of developed software and equipment, and wastes resources on temporary imports—costs far outweigh any marginal benefit in today's globalized tech landscape.

This order provides partial remission of customs duty for U.S.-built multi-level railway cars that were diverted from international to domestic service for more than 90 days in any year before 1984, reducing the duty by $400 per car per year plus $33 per month of diversion, with payment required within 90 days of notice.

This is a narrow, time-specific remission order from 1983 that addresses a temporary regulatory anomaly. It creates administrative complexity for a small class of specialized rail cars with no ongoing policy rationale. The administrative burden of tracking diversion periods, calculating partial remissions, and enforcing 90-day payment deadlines outweighs any benefits. Modern customs procedures could handle such cases more efficiently through general duty provisions rather than this obsolete, targeted regulation.

This regulation precisely defines a 2,624 km² parcel of land on Bathurst Island in the Northwest Territories using metes-and-bounds coordinates from the National Topographic System. It includes a saving clause reserving all mines and minerals (solid, liquid, gaseous) and the right to work them to the Crown. The effect is to designate this area for a specific public purpose while separating surface rights from mineral rights.

The regulation permanently withdraws a vast tract of Arctic land from potential productive use, creating a deadweight loss of opportunity. The stated or implied conservation purpose can be achieved more efficiently through voluntary private conservation trusts, market-based pricing of externalities, or targeted covenants that respect property rights. The unseen costs include foregone resource rents, tax revenues, jobs, and regional development; plus the knowledge discovery that would come from allowing entrepreneurial exploration and adaptive management. Blanket land designements distort incentives, encourage bureaucratic inertia, and prevent Canadians from deploying capital and ingenuity to create wealth. If the goal is preservation, market mechanisms with clear liability rules would achieve it without sacrificing liberty and economic potential.