Browse regulations

This Order grants remission of passport and consular service fees specifically to individuals affected by the 2017 British Columbia forest fires who lost or damaged their passports during that period, with strict eligibility criteria including timing, residency/presence documentation, and application deadlines.

Canadians would be worse off without this targeted relief: disaster victims would bear the financial burden of replacing government-issued documents lost through no fault of their own, on top of their existing losses. This limited, time-bound measure with clear eligibility criteria efficiently provides relief without creating an ongoing program or significant administrative burden, and deleting it would impose unjust hardship on specific individuals while setting no harmful precedent since it is a one-time order tied to a unique event.

Remission of overpayments under CERB and EI Emergency Response Benefit for self-employed individuals denied benefits due to income classification rules, provided tax returns for 2019-2020 filed by Dec 31, 2022.

Without this remission, self-employed Canadians who would have been eligible for pandemic support under fairer income rules would suffer undue hardship from repaying benefits they relied on during an emergency. It corrects a program design flaw in a targeted, time-bound manner that would be cumbersome to fix via full legislative reform.

Regulation sets specific work hours and compensatory time-off (lay-days) for shipboard employees operating from BC ports. Two schedules: 12-hour days with 1.13 lay-days earned daily, or 8-hour days with 0.4 lay-days. Caps lay-day accumulation at 45, limits overtime, and exempts from standard weekly rest rules.

Imposes rigid, one-size-fits-all work/compensation structure that prevents voluntary negotiation between employers and employees. Creates administrative burdens, reduces flexibility for irregular shipping operations, increases labor costs, and makes Canadian shipping less competitive. Market mechanisms—contracts, safety liability, and competition for workers—would naturally ensure fair treatment without prescriptive mandates.

This regulation governs working hours for shipping employees operating from East Coast and Great Lakes ports, establishing standard 8-hour days/40-hour weeks, allowing for averaging periods up to 13 weeks, and implementing lay-day systems for maritime workers

Creates artificial labor constraints on maritime shipping that increase operational costs, reduce flexibility, and distort market-based scheduling. The lay-day system and hour restrictions prevent efficient crew deployment, driving up shipping costs which get passed to consumers. Maritime workers already face natural market incentives for safe working conditions - additional regulatory burden only reduces competitiveness without meaningful safety gains.

A facilitative general export permit for specific processed wood products (peeled poles, posts, boomsticks, etc.) requiring only a certificate and customs notation, minimizing bureaucratic obstacles to trade.

Deleting this would replace a streamlined notification system with more burdensome individual permitting, increasing transaction costs and reducing export competitiveness. The regulation achieves efficient trade facilitation with minimal government intervention - a model of smart deregulation.

This regulation establishes fees for maritime inspections and certifications under Canada's shipping laws, covering vessel safety inspections, pollution prevention certificates, load line surveys, and technical document approvals. Fees vary by ship type, size, and inspection purpose, with specific charges for Canadian and non-Canadian vessels, including travel costs for overseas inspections.

This regulatory fee structure creates significant barriers to maritime commerce by imposing costly inspections and certifications that may exceed safety benefits. The complex fee schedule adds administrative overhead, discourages vessel registration and operation in Canadian waters, and could be replaced by market-based insurance mechanisms that better align costs with actual risk while preserving safety standards.

Regulation mandates Pleasure Craft Operator Cards for operating motorized recreational boats in most Canadian waters. Requires passing a 36-question test (75% minimum) from an accredited course or holding legacy certification. Course providers must be accredited by Transport Canada and follow strict test protocols. Non-residents may operate with foreign certification or for stays under 45 days with proof of residency.

This regulation substitutes a government monopoly certification for market-based safety solutions. It imposes time costs, fees, and bureaucratic hurdles on millions of recreational boaters for marginal safety gains that private alternatives could achieve more efficiently. Insurance companies, marinas, and rental agencies have strong incentives to require and verify competence without centralized mandates. The one-size-fits-all test and accreditation process creates barriers to entry, increases costs, and generates administrative overhead while doing little to improve safety outcomes beyond what informed consumers and private contracts already accomplish. The regulation also criminalizes harmless activities like teaching a friend to operate a boat on private waters.

This by-law implements notification requirements for federal member institutions applying to the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) for authorization to accept deposits without being a member institution. It mandates that applicants send notices to existing depositors 15-90 days after application, informing them that their deposits will no longer be CDIC-insured, and requiring written acknowledgement. New depositors must receive similar notice before opening accounts. The notice explains options: acknowledge and keep deposits without insurance, request payout of principal and interest, or do nothing and have deposits assumed by another CDIC member institution.

This regulation imposes unnecessary bureaucratic requirements that interfere with voluntary exchange between banks and depositors. The mandatory 15-90 day notice period, specific delivery methods, and required acknowledgement forms create compliance costs and operational delays for institutions seeking to exit government insurance. In a free market, banks should be able to inform customers directly without government-mandated procedures and timing constraints. Depositors can be expected to inquire about insurance status; forcing standardized notices adds burden without improving outcomes, distorting incentives and reducing institutional flexibility.

Regulation sets sulphur concentration limits for gasoline production and imports, with pool average option for compliance, sampling/testing requirements, and trading system for sulphur compliance units.

Creates regulatory burden on fuel producers with complex compliance systems, restricts supply flexibility, and imposes costs that increase fuel prices without clear environmental benefit proportional to economic costs.

This regulation provides tariff remission for apparel, fabric, and yarn imports from Mexico and the United States under the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement, subject to annual quantitative limits and certification requirements.

Deleting this would increase costs for Canadian consumers and businesses by removing preferential tariff treatment for North American trade, potentially harming supply chains and competitiveness with non-NAFTA countries.

Regulation governing recovery procedures for overpayments or adjustments under the Members of Parliament Retiring Allowances Act. It sets out notification requirements, election of payment methods (lump sum or monthly deductions capped at 10% of allowance), interest rates (4% compounded annually), order of recovery from different benefit categories, and Ministerial discretion for hardship cases (minimum 5% deductions).

This specialized regulation adds unnecessary bureaucratic complexity for a narrow group (former MPs). Its arbitrary parameters (fixed 4% interest, 10% deduction caps, specific mortality rate calculations) could be replaced by standard debt collection practices or general administrative principles at lower cost. The regulation's detailed micromanagement reflects the very regulatory overreach that stifles efficiency; simpler discretionary guidelines would achieve fair recovery without rigid constraints.

Grants legal capacities, privileges, and immunities to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and its officials in Canada under international agreements

International organizations require legal protections to function effectively across borders. Without these immunities, the Commission couldn't operate independently, protect sensitive environmental data, or ensure diplomatic cooperation between Canada, US, and Mexico for cross-border environmental issues.

This regulation mandates disclosure requirements for CDIC member institutions to ensure consumers receive accurate information about deposit insurance coverage. It prohibits false representations, requires standardized signage and brochures at physical locations and online, mandates warning labels on non-insured instruments, and compels maintenance of lists and compliance statements. Its purpose is to prevent consumer confusion and fraud regarding CDIC insurance.

Canadians would be worse off if deleted because unregulated communications could lead to widespread consumer misunderstanding about deposit insurance coverage, causing individuals to leave funds uninsured during bank failures. The regulation achieves its goal through simple, uniform disclosures that are far more effective and less costly than relying on reactive fraud enforcement or voluntary measures, which would likely result in significantly higher risk of financial harm.

Regulation establishes a duty relief (drawback) framework allowing importers/exporters/processors to recover customs duties on goods temporarily imported for processing and then re-exported. It defines eligible goods, sets export time limits (2-5 years), prescribes 'same class' processing rules, and establishes administrative procedures for certificates including issuance amendments, suspensions, cancellations, and reinstatements by the Minister of National Revenue.

Canadians would be worse off if deleted: Without duty relief, Canadian processors would face effective double tariffs on imported inputs that are re-exported, making export-oriented manufacturing uncompetitive relative to foreign processors. This would drive processing activity offshore, reduce Canadian employment and economic output, and harm our trade balance. The program achieves the necessary correction to an otherwise distortive tariff system in a targeted way; while bureaucracy exists, it is a minor administrative cost compared to the systemic inefficiency and lost prosperity of deleting it.

Sets out detailed rules for claiming refunds or drawbacks of customs duties on imported goods that are exported or used in designated government/CUSMA projects. Includes eligibility criteria (undamaged, not used except for display), time limits (generally 2 years), definitions of 'same class' goods (with special textile provisions), procedural requirements (waivers, claimants), and anti-abuse provisions.

The regulation imposes significant compliance costs and distorts economic incentives through complex rules like the 'same class' textile definition and strict time limits. It perpetuates tariff distortions by cushioning their impact, reducing political pressure to eliminate tariffs. Unseen costs include rent-seeking, strategic behavior to meet arbitrary thresholds, and resource misallocation toward regulatory navigation. The same duty neutrality could be achieved more efficiently via tariff elimination or a simple automatic refund system.