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Regulation

Canada’s regulatory environment has accumulated rules, blocked development, and raised barriers to entry that discourage the investment and innovation productivity growth requires. Businesses face slow, unpredictable approvals for everything from a new subsidiary to a national pipeline. Homebuilders face duplicate inspections and outdated codes that add months to every project. Workers face licensing rules that treat a provincial border like a foreign one. Decades of rules added one at a time, with no one responsible for removing the ones that no longer serve a purpose, have left the system heavier than the problems it was built to solve.

Regulation Recommendations Summary

Recommendation

Area of Reform

Level of Government

Source Document

Give expert regulators final say on major project approvals

Speed up the regulatory process

Federal

Clear the Way: Does the Building Canada Act Help Canada Build?

Limit regulatory reviews to a project’s direct effects

Speed up the regulatory process

Federal

Clear the Way: Does the Building Canada Act Help Canada Build?

Set approval timelines that hold for government and applicants alike, with extensions only for genuinely unforeseen circumstances

Speed up the regulatory process

Federal

Clear the Way: Does the Building Canada Act Help Canada Build?

Adopt common baseline professional licensing standards across provinces, admitting out-of-province workers automatically unless a specific public-safety exception applies

Reduce regulatory complexity

Federal

Provincial

2025 Labour Market Review: Trade Uncertainty, Structural Pressures, and Policy Priorities for Canada

Remove the remaining barriers to trade between provinces, such as the lack of mutual recognition for services and differing trucking rules on vehicle weight, size, and bridge clearances

Reduce interprovincial trade barriers

Federal

Provincial

A Backgrounder on Remaining Barriers to Internal Trade within Canada

Appoint senior officials to lead the federal-provincial table on internal trade barriers, add a permanent federal co-chair, and estimate the cost of each unresolved barrier to prioritize effort

Reduce interprovincial trade barriers

Federal

Provincial

Eyes on the Prize: A Game Plan to Speed Up Removal of Internal Trade Barriers in Canada

Standardize building codes and eliminate duplicate inspections for modular and prefabricated housing

Reduce regulatory complexity

Provincial

Municipal

Building Smarter, Faster: Technology and Policy Solutions for Canada’s Housing Crisis

Create a standing, economy-wide review process to inventory regulations and retire or consolidate outdated ones

Reduce regulatory complexity

Federal

Regulatory Reset: A Policy Roadmap for Expanding Financial Advice to Middle- and Lower-Income Canadians

Allow private auto insurers to compete on price and product design

Improve auto insurance regulation

Provincial

Time for a Tune-up: Reforms to Private-Sector Auto Insurance could Lower Costs and Add Value for Consumers

Finish implementing open banking and update the rollout plan to reflect Budget 2025

Improve financial services regulation

Federal

Open Banking in Canada – The Path to Implementation

Finish modernizing federal capital markets legislation, and create two federal agencies: one for systemic risk and one for capital markets crime enforcement

Improve financial services regulation

Federal

Finish the Job: Completing Canada’s Capital Markets Reform Agenda