Modernizing Canada’s Regulatory Frameworks Priority Area 2

Priority Area 2 Drive coordination between agencies and jurisdictions, both within Canada and internationally.

Drivers of coordination Reduced regulatory burden Increased government efficiency Positioning Canada to remain competitive Quality of Life Reduced regulatory burden We hear from industry that there are duplicative or overlapping costs and effort associated with complying with regulatory requirements set by various levels of government relating to one issue. Industry members don’t differentiate between the levels of government and simply want reduced burden overall. For example, at a CFIA hearing with farmers, they raised many concerns to the CFIA representatives that were actually related to provincial regulatory requirements. Increased government efficiency If government can regulate more efficiently by coordinating between agencies and jurisdictions, this improves our ability to be good stewards of public resources. Avoiding possible duplication of learning/effort/requirements/verification of compliance/inspection or authorizations will save governments resources, whether time or money For example, the system designed to protect workers from dangerous chemicals designates provincial and territorial inspectors to enforce federal requirements when they are in workplaces inspecting for PT purposes. Positioning Canada to remain competitive Globalisation has increased the integration of product markets, meaning that global firms are putting increasing pressure on Canadian regulators to avoid creating requirements that apply only in Canada Reducing the « Canada-only » regulatory cost improves the competitiveness of Canada’s market and may bring more products to the Canadian market. For example, a lot of drug manufacturing takes place outside of Canada, so some drug establishment inspections are carried out jointly with other jurisdictions in which the manufacturing occurs. Quality of life ADD EXPLANATION ADD EXAMPLE TO ILLUSTRATE

Challenges to coordination Cultural approach to regulating Political considerations Brand differentiation Timeliness Cultural approach to regulating There are some aspects of the culture that regulators have adopted that will be challenging to overcome. There are some suggestions that regulators can be narrowminded in their focus only on their own mandate, rather than the larger picture for a regulated sector Regulators are generally used to working in silos and may engage in protectionism Regulators may also be risk-averse and coordination between agencies and jurisdictions requires giving up some control to others, which they may consider to be risky These factors may make it challenging for regulators to engage appropriately with one another in a constructive manner. DO WE WANT AN EXAMPLE OF THE CHALLENGE? Political considerations Different jurisdictions may be responsive to different political leaders. They may have different political cycles, ideologies, or chosen areas of focus. These may present challenges to collaboration For example, while it might be ideal to include objectives relating to coordination in the mandate letters of affected federal and provincial ministers, due to different political landscapes and timing, this may not be possible. Brand differentiation There are cases where regulatory differences present an opportunity for brand differentiation. Industry may be reluctant to lose such opportunities For example, « Grown in Ontario » branding, or the increased Canadian regulatory scrutiny of the aerospace industry that creates a competitive advantage in foreign markets (need a source for this information) Timeliness Coordinating between multiple groups with different leaders, priorities, funding profiles and experience is likely to take time. Compare to work in a group – often it takes longer than work done by an individual, but the result is inevitably better! This may have the effect of making the regulatory less agile, though benefits will be realised in other areas. For example, the workplace chemicals program is highly integrated at the international, federal, provincial and territorial levels. However, this is the product of 30 years of work by those involved.

Proposals/Recommendations