Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Regulations: SOR/2025-225

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 159, Number 24

Registration
SOR/2025-225 November 6, 2025

FREE TRADE AND LABOUR MOBILITY IN CANADA ACT

P.C. 2025-784 November 6, 2025

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada, makes the annexed Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Regulations under subsection 11(1) of the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act footnote a.

Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Regulations

Interpretation

Definition of Act

1 (1) In these Regulations, Act means the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act.

Definition of authorization

(2) For the purposes of the Act and these Regulations, authorization means

Goods and Services

Requirements — same aspect or element

2 (1) For the purposes of paragraphs 8(2)(a) and 9(2)(a) of the Act, a provincial or territorial requirement and a federal requirement are in respect of the same aspect or element of a good or service if

For greater certainty — same aspect or element

(2) For greater certainty, the fact that the provincial or territorial requirement is in respect of the distribution of the good or provision of the service within the province or territory and the federal requirement is in respect of the distribution of the good or provision of the service between provinces and territories is not relevant to determining whether the provincial or territorial requirement and the federal requirement are in respect of the same aspect or element of the good or service.

For greater certainty — same aspect or element

(3) For greater certainty, a provincial or territorial requirement and a federal requirement to hold a licence, registration or other type of permit in order to conduct an activity are not in respect of the same aspect or element of the good or service.

Requirements — achieve a similar objective

(4) For the purposes of paragraphs 8(2)(b) and 9(2)(b) of the Act, a provincial or territorial requirement is intended to achieve a similar objective as a federal requirement if it seeks to advance the same public interest as the federal requirement, such as

Exceptions respecting goods

3 Subsection 8(1) of the Act does not apply in respect of a federal requirement under the Agricultural Products Marketing Act, the Canadian Dairy Commission Act, the Farm Products Agencies Act, the Safe Food for Canadians Act or section B.01.042 or B.01.043 of the Food and Drug Regulations.

Restriction respecting goods

4 The application of subsection 8(1) of the Act is restricted to goods other than those that are defined as or considered to be hazardous waste, or hazardous recyclable material, in the Cross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations, for the purposes of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and those Regulations.

Condition respecting goods

5 For the purposes of paragraph 8(2)(c) of the Act, the provincial or territorial requirement must be a requirement under a law of a province or territory in which the activities of the producer or distributor of the good are governed or regulated.

Labour Mobility

Conditions respecting authorizations

6 For the purposes of section 10 of the Act, a federal regulatory body must not recognize or issue an authorization unless

Coming into Force

S.C. 2025, c. 2, s. 2

7 These Regulations come into force on the day on which the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, as enacted by section 2 of chapter 2 of the Statutes of Canada, 2025, comes into force, but if they are registered after that day, they come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Executive summary

Issues: Regulations are required to support the implementation of the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act (the Act), including by prescribing any exceptions, conditions and restrictions in its application.

Description: The Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Regulations (the Regulations) are intended to ensure that the application and implementation of the Act are clear for regulated parties, and to mitigate any unintended risks to the health, safety and security of Canadians, their social and economic well-being and the environment that may result from the implementation of the Act.

The Regulations

  • provide exceptions to the application of the Act in the areas of supply management and safety of food;
  • impose conditions and restrictions for the application of the Act’s provisions on goods, services and labour mobility; and
  • provide further clarity to the terms “same aspect or element,” “similar objective” and “authorization.”

Rationale: The Act provides a framework to remove federal barriers to interprovincial trade through the recognition of comparable provincial or territorial requirements for goods and services, and provincial and territorial authorizations to practise occupations. The Regulations clarify how the Act will be implemented and mitigate unintended consequences through exceptions to its application. Stakeholders were engaged in person and in writing to inform the development of the Regulations. The benefits of the framework are expected to be limited, and the costs to implement the Regulations are expected to be minimal.

Issues

The Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act provides a framework to remove federal barriers to interprovincial trade through the recognition of comparable provincial or territorial requirements for goods and services and provincial and territorial authorizations to practise occupations.

The removal of federal barriers to trade through the recognition of provincial and territorial requirements may have unintended consequences for other Government of Canada policy objectives, such as the health, safety and security of Canadians, their social and economic well-being, and the environment. The Regulations therefore prescribe exceptions to limit these unintended consequences in cases where these outweigh the potential economic benefits. They are also needed to outline conditions and restrictions for the application of the Act to further clarify its intended scope.

The Act limits the recognition of provincial and territorial requirements on goods and services to those that are comparable to federal requirements pertaining to interprovincial trade. Comparable requirements have been described in the legislation as those that are in respect of the same aspect or element of the good or service, and that are intended to achieve a similar objective. However, there could be different interpretations of these terms that could lead to the confusion or improper implementation of the Act. The Regulations provide clarity to regulated parties on how federal regulatory bodies will apply the comparability test to goods and services requirements in a consistent and logical manner, and in a way that reflects the Government’s policy intent for the legislation.

The Act also allows for the recognition of an authorization to practise an occupation issued by a provincial or territorial regulatory body. The Regulations provide clarity for the term “authorization” in this context.

Background

The United States’ imposition of tariffs on Canada has highlighted the need to strengthen the Canadian economy, diversify its trade relations, and increase domestic productivity, resilience and competitiveness. One way to achieve these objectives is to remove barriers to interprovincial trade, including those maintained by the Government of Canada. This is the purpose of the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act, which received royal assent on June 26, 2025.

The Act provides a framework to reduce the burden of federal rules that apply to trade across provincial and territorial borders. The legislation aims to remove federal barriers to the movement of goods, services and labour within Canada through the recognition of comparable provincial and territorial requirements, while protecting the health, safety, security, social and economic well-being of Canadians and the environment.

Specifically, this means that

An example of a good covered under the Act is energy-using products (e.g. certain household appliances) subject to Natural Resources Canada’s energy efficiency requirements. Energy efficiency of energy-using products is regulated both federally and provincially, and the federal requirements apply to products shipped within Canada from one province to another. Federal and provincial requirements for energy efficiency of these products are comparable because they concern the same aspect of the good — energy efficiency — and they have the same objective — to influence the design of the product in order to reduce energy consumption. As a result, provincial energy efficiency requirements would be recognized as comparable by Natural Resources Canada, and businesses fulfilling these provincial requirements would be considered to have fulfilled Natural Resources Canada’s requirements.

In terms of workers covered by the Act, a federally regulated occupation falls in its scope where there is both a federal and provincial or territorial authorization for the same occupation. This includes land surveyors, as well as locomotive engineers and related occupations. In these cases, the worker’s provincial work authorization would be recognized and, upon application, the worker would receive the federal work authorization to practise their occupation in areas of federal jurisdiction.

The Act and the Regulations will come into force on January 1, 2026.

Objective

The objective of the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Regulations is to ensure that the Act is implemented according to its intent, and that regulated parties have the necessary clarity to follow the Act, without compromising the health, safety and security of Canadians, their social and economic well-being, and the environment. The Regulations advance this policy goal by preserving federal requirements for the interprovincial movement of goods and provision of services where these objectives would otherwise not be met. They also ensure that the Act is implemented according to its original intent by clarifying the terminology used and imposing conditions and restrictions for the application of the Act’s provisions on goods, services and labour mobility.

Description

The Regulations include the following:

Exceptions to the application of the Free Trade and Labour Mobility in Canada Act

The Regulations indicate that no provincial or territorial requirements and no work authorization are to be deemed comparable to the federal requirements laid out in the following acts and regulations:

1- Acts related to supply management and the regulations under these acts:

Supply management promotes the orderly marketing of dairy, egg and poultry products at the farm gate (e.g. raw milk, live birds) by balancing supply and demand to maintain continuous and adequate supply for consumers and fair returns for producers.

The system relies on complementary provincial and federal measures to maintain a coherent framework at the national level.

The three acts covered by this exception impose federal requirements for marketing dairy, poultry and egg products in interprovincial trade. This includes regulations and orders pertaining to quota allocation, licensing, pricing and the collection of levies by various marketing boards. Provinces also have similar legislation and requirements for producers to market products in their province. The system is implemented by provincial marketing boards in each province. Collectively, this legislation underpins Canada’s supply management system.

Recognition of provincial and territorial supply management requirements could unintentionally undermine the orderly and efficient marketing system, leading to an imbalance in supply and demand for dairy, poultry and eggs, jeopardizing price stability. An exception is included in the Regulations to avoid any such unintended consequences and meet the Government of Canada’s commitment to protect the supply management system.

2- Acts and regulations related to the safety of food:

Industry stakeholders, provinces and territories expressed strong support for the federal food system to remain the basis of food trade in Canada, rather than recognizing the provincial and territorial requirements. The system created under the Safe Food for Canadians Act, its regulations and related provisions of the Food and Drug Regulations, is built on stringent, science-based international food safety and animal welfare standards. It allows the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to know who is trading food in Canada and gives its inspectorate powers to assess business compliance, inspect and sample food, and to take enforcement action when non-compliance is found, protecting the health and safety of Canadians and enabling trade between provinces and territories.

This federal food system integrates internal, import and export supply chains into a food safety system that is internationally recognized. Trading partners grant Canadian businesses access to their markets based on regular assessments of the strength and integrity of Canada’s federal food system. This system could be undermined by introducing recognition of provincial and territorial requirements on food. The continued integrity of the federal food safety system is critical for Canada to access and diversify its export markets and for Canada’s ability to set stringent standards for food imports.

Exceptions to the Safe Food for Canadians Act, its regulations and related provisions of the Food and Drug Regulations not only protect the health and safety of Canadians by maintaining established federal standards and oversight over food safety in the country, but also protect Canadian exports by maintaining a high level of trading partner confidence in Canada’s food safety system.

Conditions and restrictions for the application of the goods, services and labour mobility provisions

The Regulations restrict the application of the Act to goods and the movement or transportation of goods that are not hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable material. The Act’s intent is to facilitate internal trade, not to ease the movement of potentially harmful goods that are purposefully restricted. The Regulations advance this purpose by ensuring that requirements on hazardous waste and hazardous recyclable material, included in the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the Cross-border Movement of Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Recyclable Material Regulations, are not affected, even though they pertain to trade (i.e. movement of a good across provincial and territorial borders). This is aligned with the intent of the legislation to boost trade without creating unintended consequences for the environment.

The Regulations impose a condition that the provincial or territorial requirement is limited to requirements in the jurisdiction in which the business is located. This ensures that a business could not simply meet any provincial and territorial standards regardless of their location, leaving a regulatory gap and rendering the compliance and enforcement of the requirements by the regulatory bodies nearly impossible.

Conditions are also imposed on the federal issuance of work authorizations. To protect the safety of Canadians, the issuance of a federal work authorization for a comparable provincial or territorial work authorization can only be done if the holder of the provincial or territorial authorization (i) is in good standing with the provincial or territorial regulatory body that issued the authorization; (ii) has paid to the federal regulatory body any applicable fee related to the issuance of the federal authorization; and (iii) has taken any applicable oath or solemn application related to the issuance of the federal authorization. In case of locomotive engineers and related occupations pursuant to the Railway Employee Qualification Standards Regulations, an additional condition for the issuance of the federal work authorization consists of the completion of the applicable examinations and assessments required for safety reasons.

Clarify “same aspect or element” and “similar objective”

The Regulations add precision to what is meant in the Act by “same aspect or element” and “similar objective” so that Canadians, regulated parties and regulatory bodies can interpret the law consistently and in accordance with its intended purpose.

The Regulations clarify that to be comparable in terms of “same aspect or element,” a provincial or territorial requirement on a good must be in respect of (i) the same regulated person or entity or the same stage of the life cycle of the good; and (ii) the same feature, characteristics or function of a good, or the same activity or process that pertains to the good. For a service, the requirements must be (i) in respect of the same service provider; and (ii) the same feature, characteristics or function, or the same activity or process that pertains to the service. This ensures that the application of the Act leaves no regulatory gap (i.e. deeming requirements comparable when they do not address the same issues).

Precision is also added to indicate that the fact that a provincial or territorial requirement only applies within the province or territory is not relevant to whether it is comparable to a federal requirement that pertains to interprovincial trade. The Regulations also clarify that provincial or territorial requirements and federal requirements to hold a licence, registration or other permit in order to conduct an activity are not in respect of the “same aspect or element” of the good or service.

The Regulations also clarify that a requirement may be considered to achieve a “similar objective” if it is designed to protect or promote the same public interest, such as the health, safety and security of persons, environmental or consumer protection, or economic efficiency and market fairness. This would enable requirements to be found comparable regardless of differences in terminology, structure or enforcement mechanisms. It would ensure that requirements are interpreted in the spirit of mutual recognition, even if requirements are presented in a different manner.

Clarify the term “authorization”

The Regulations clarify that, for the purposes of the Act, “authorization” means a licence or certificate that is issued by a federal, provincial or territorial regulatory body that authorizes the practice of an occupation, or a licence and membership, when a membership is necessary to be authorized to work. This ensures that the Act and Regulations only apply to an occupation that requires either a licence or certificate, and where both the federal and provincial or territorial bodies would issue authorizations. This also ensures clarity for regulated parties and the public that occupations captured under the Act only include occupations that are regulated by both federal and provincial regulatory bodies.

Regulatory development

Consultation

The regulatory development process was accelerated to ensure the federal government’s efforts to build one Canadian economy to align with the momentum of provinces and territories that are taking similar legislative action to remove barriers to internal trade and labour mobility. The Privy Council Office (PCO) developed and conducted a two-pronged consultation approach instead of prepublishing regulations in Canada Gazette, Part I, to meet expedited timelines. Together, federal, provincial and territorial governments are working quickly to create new opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers in response to trade challenges with the United States.

First, the PCO met stakeholders in person and virtually to directly seek their input. The PCO worked in partnership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to organize one national, five regional and five sectoral roundtables with stakeholders. This provided participants an opportunity to engage directly with federal officials on the Act and the Regulations. Over 100 business, industry and labour representatives attended the roundtables or additional stakeholder meetings held between August 4 and 22, 2025. The PCO also held meetings with agriculture and agri-food stakeholders (hosted by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada), Canada’s main unions and with Indigenous stakeholders through the Indigenous Working Group on Trade (I-Trade).

In parallel, the PCO published a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on August 2, 2025, calling for written submissions. Specifically, the NOI provided a plain language explanation of how the Act will work, identified federal requirements and occupations that could be in scope, and asked for feedback on how the Act would impact regulated parties, potential exceptions that should be considered, and criteria that should be used for determining comparability. An email address dedicated to the consultations was provided to ensure the PCO could quickly access, assess and consider all feedback. As of August 29, 2025, 91 submissions were received.

Through these approaches, the PCO has heard from over 195 different stakeholders — including businesses, business and labour associations, unions, provincial governments and citizens. Of the comments received, 44% were from the agriculture and agri-food sector, 17% represented unions and labour associations, 9% from the transportation sector, 13% from the energy and environmental sector, and 15% covered other sectors.

Agriculture and agri-food sector

Most agriculture and agri-food stakeholders expressed concerns with the application of the Act in the sector, especially for meat and other high-risk commodities. In particular, they raised the risk of

Large industry stakeholders advocated for a harmonized Canadian food system, with additional support being given to smaller producers to help them meet the existing federal standard.

Some small industry stakeholders supported the application of the Act to the agricultural and agri-food sector. It was noted that

Based on this feedback, an exception for the Safe Food for Canadians Act, its regulations and related provisions of the Food and Drug Regulations was included in the Regulations.

Labour

Labour associations and unions signalled the importance of health and safety for workers, advocating that the Act should not be a tool to eliminate those protections. They argued that mutual recognition of standards risks creating a “race to the bottom.” Instead, they advocated for maintaining or improving existing standards and ensuring the legislation supports the highest level of protection. Labour stakeholders emphasized the need for national harmonization of workers’ credentials as the best path forward to eliminate barriers to mobility.

Efforts towards harmonization of credentials will be addressed through other channels, as it falls outside of the scope of the Act and cannot be managed through these Regulations.

Energy and environment

Appliance manufacturers, environmental organizations and citizens raised strong concern with the potential application of the Act to the Energy Efficiency Act, Division 8 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act. Stakeholders requested that the federal government take an exception for these acts and their regulations to uphold established environmental and consumer protections. Stakeholders recommend the federal government to work with provinces and territories to harmonize energy efficiency regulations to create one national system.

In response to environmental concerns, a restriction was added to ensure that hazardous goods would not be covered by the Act. Efforts towards harmonization will be addressed through other channels, as it falls outside of the scope of the Act and cannot be managed through these Regulations.

Overall, stakeholder feedback was taken into consideration when developing the definitions, conditions and exceptions included in the Regulations.

Indigenous engagement, consultation and modern treaty obligations

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Federal Approach to Modern Treaty Implementation, an assessment of modern treaty implications was conducted, but no impacts on modern treaties were identified in relation to the Regulations. Indigenous stakeholders were engaged through various technical briefings, including through the Indigenous Working Group on Trade (I-Trade) led by Global Affairs Canada. At I-Trade, a technical overview of the Act and its application was provided, and participants had the opportunity to raise issues or ask questions. Participants inquired about the coming into force of the Act, but did not flag any concerns.

Instrument choice

The Regulations are the only instrument considered appropriate. Section 11 of the Act authorizes that several details of the framework, including exceptions to the application of the Act and additional clarity for terms used in the Act, be prescribed through regulation.

Regulatory analysis

Benefits and costs

The direct financial impact of the Regulations is limited, as there are few federal barriers pertaining to interprovincial trade and limited occupations requiring a federal licence or certificate that are also regulated by provinces and territories. Specific barriers addressed by the Regulations are discussed below.

Baseline scenario

The baseline scenario is a scenario where the Act does not come into force. In this scenario, internal trade and labour mobility are governed by laws, regulations, policies and practices currently in place, which means that regulated parties must satisfy both federal and provincial or territorial requirements.

Regulatory scenario

Under the regulatory scenario, federal requirements on internal trade and labour mobility are subjected to the Act and the Regulations. This means that a regulated party would only need to meet the provincial or territorial requirements deemed comparable to the federal ones in order to meet the federal requirements.

Costs
Costs to the Government of Canada

Under a regulatory scenario, the Regulations are not expected to introduce significant new costs to the Government of Canada. These costs include the following:

Ongoing implementation:

Federal regulators will engage with their provincial/territorial counterparts, as needed, in order to fulfill these functions, as appropriate.

All of these costs are expected to be low because no substantial analytical work is expected to be necessary.

Costs to businesses

The Regulations will not increase the costs to businesses. Businesses will either face the same regulatory burden from before the Regulations came into force, or have their regulatory burden decrease, should they decide to fulfill provincial or territorial requirements in order to comply with comparable federal requirements, instead of complying with both.

Benefits
Lower industry costs

The Regulations are intended to bring small, targeted benefits to businesses who presently must comply with requirements in scope of the Act. Businesses may benefit from reduced compliance costs associated with having to follow federal requirements for expanding their activities outside of their province or territory when they already meet the comparable provincial or territorial requirements. For example, the Regulations will allow an appliance manufacturer to satisfy the federal requirement to certify their appliance as meeting the federal standard should they already have completed a provincial or territorial certification and submitted that certification to Natural Resources Canada. However, since energy efficiency regulations are mostly harmonized and most businesses already use the federal standard, these benefits are expected to be small.

Increased labour mobility

The Regulations would make it easier for workers in scope of the Act (e.g. land surveyors, locomotive engineers and related occupations) practising at the provincial or territorial level to work in a corresponding federal occupation. There will be lower costs for professionals who hold a provincial/territorial authorization that are seeking a federal work authorization for the same occupation. By making it easier to get a federal job, it may also be easier for the federal government to meet the needs of the public and support essential projects across Canada.

Land surveyors already licensed to practice in a province will no longer have to pay a $600 fee to take a lengthy exam that is often perceived as unnecessarily bureaucratic to become a Canada land surveyor. This represents financial relief for these professionals, in addition to saving them valuable time.

By removing this barrier, approximately 2 500 qualified land surveyors across the country will now have a simplified path to becoming a Canada land surveyor. This opening will help increase the number of professionals available to provide surveying services at the federal level. Ultimately, this measure should improve access to surveying services for many communities, including Indigenous communities, which often depend on these services for development, land recognition or land management projects. Overall, the cost benefit would amount to a maximum of $1.4 million in savings for these professionals.

Locomotive engineers and those in related occupations that are provincially certified and want to work for a federally regulated railway company will now be able to fast-track the obtainment of their federal certification. The Regulations would make it easier for workers in scope of the Act to have their training and qualifications obtained under a provincial certificate recognized, allowing locomotive engineers to be fast-tracked for training purposes and requiring only that they successfully complete any applicable examination and assessment under the federal safety regime.

Increased competition and competitiveness

To the extent that the scope of the legislation is narrow given the limited federal barriers to trade, the Regulations are expected to have a modest impact on increased competition and competitiveness.

Small business lens

Analysis using the small business lens concluded that the Regulations would have a limited impact on Canadian small businesses. In cases where the Act and the Regulations apply, such as manufacturing of appliances, small businesses would benefit from a reduced regulatory burden — namely the need to only comply with provincial or territorial requirements.

Energy efficiency requirements are already harmonized between the federal and provincial governments, and all jurisdictions use the federal online portal and do not have their own. Federal reporting would continue under the Act for energy efficiency requirements even where provincial standards are being recognized.

In the case of land surveyors and locomotive engineers, the requirement to be certified at the federal level is imposed on individuals, not businesses. While a business might engage an individual’s services, the administrative or compliance burden is not imposed on that business. Consequently, the removal of the federal certification requirement does not constitute a reduction in burden on business.

One-for-one rule

The one-for-one rule does not apply, as the Regulations do not result in an incremental change in administrative burden on businesses.

As noted above, given the harmonized processes and tools for appliance manufacturers, the recognition of provincial rules results in no incremental change in administrative burden on businesses. The rule does not apply to land surveyors or locomotive engineers, as they are licensed as individuals and not as businesses.

Regulatory cooperation and alignment

The Act and Regulations are part of a broader effort by the federal, provincial and territorial governments on regulatory cooperation to remove barriers to trade in Canada. They are based on the concept of mutual recognition, where the Government of Canada will recognize provincial and territorial regulations, standards, certifications or credentials where they are comparable, reducing bureaucratic barriers and allowing for smoother trade and commerce. While the Act is unilateral and does not require reciprocity from provinces and territories, seven provinces (British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island and Quebec) have adopted or introduced similar legislation. In addition, provinces and territories have signed 19 bilateral memoranda of understanding between themselves to advance mutual recognition.

Outside of the Act, regulatory cooperation and alignment with the provinces and territories will also take place as part of broader work to eliminate remaining irritants to interprovincial trade, including through a mutual recognition agreement on the sale of goods (except food) that is expected to be finalized by December 2025 and the implementation of a 30-day service standard for recognizing professional credentials across provinces. This work will continue to be carried out at the Committee on Internal Trade, Regulatory Conciliation and Cooperation Table under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and the Forum of Labour Market Ministers.

Opportunities for this proposal to support international regulatory cooperation or to align with international approaches are limited.

International obligations

The Regulations are focused on Canada’s internal market and will not change requirements related to international imports or exports. Moreover, the exception for Safe Food for Canadians Act and its regulations would preserve the status quo for the applicable laws, regulations or other requirements, which ensures that Canada will continue to meet its international commitments in this sector.

Effects on the environment

In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on Strategic Environmental and Economic Assessment (SEEA Directive), a preliminary scan concluded that a strategic environmental and economic assessment is not required, as the Regulations are not likely to result in significant environmental impacts.

The Regulations are intended to clarify details about the implementation of the Act, including the definition of comparability, and are therefore not going to produce important new environmental impacts.

Through engagement, stakeholders raised general concerns with the potential for federal recognition of lower provincial and territorial standards under the Act; for example, the recognition of provincial or territorial energy efficiency standards for appliances that may differ from the federal standards under the Energy Efficiency Act. Based on the limited scope of the Act and the current state of provincial and territorial requirements that may be considered comparable under the Act, analysis has determined that there are unlikely to be significant direct environmental impacts. To further minimize risks to the environment, a condition has been included in the Regulations to restrict the application of the Act to goods that are not hazardous waste or hazardous recyclable materials.

Gender-based analysis plus

No gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) impacts have been identified for these Regulations. No groups would be affected disproportionally by the Regulations, and no concerns have been expressed by stakeholders through consultation.

Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards

Implementation

Coming into force

The Regulations come into force at the same time as the Act on January 1, 2026.

Determining comparability

Responsibility for determining comparability lies with the federal regulators. Guidance will be available for federal regulators to ensure consistency in approach, in line with the Regulations. Advanced decisions on comparability will be communicated via a user’s guide prior to the Act and Regulations coming into force in December 2025. Should further requirements be deemed in scope of the Act at a later date, or provincial and territorial requirements change over time, comparability decisions on these requirements will be included in the user’s guide and communicated through departmental websites.

Communication and outreach

To promote clarity and transparency, a plain language user’s guide will be available in December 2025 to help businesses and other affected stakeholders understand how the Act and Regulations will apply. The user’s guide will be posted on the One Canadian Economy page of the Government of Canada website and other departmental web pages, where relevant.

The user’s guide will outline the specific federal requirements in scope of the Act, as well as if federal regulators have deemed comparable to federal requirements. The user’s guide will also be clear on which federal requirements (by sector) are not in scope of the Act.

The user’s guide will also contain the contact information for the PCO and federal regulators, which businesses can use if they have any questions. Businesses and Canadians will also be able to submit requests for federal regulators to consider and determine comparability of specific provincial or territorial requirements through these channels.

Federal regulators will conduct stakeholder outreach in their specific sector in advance of the coming-into-force date and post information available on their departmental web page prior to January 1, 2026, to ensure smooth implementation.

Compliance and enforcement

The implementation would leverage existing resources within federal departments and agencies to recognize provincial and territorial requirements. While it could require an adjustment period to change the way compliance and enforcement would be executed, the Regulations are not expected to increase the burden of implementation for the Government of Canada.

Overall implementation of the Act and Regulations will be monitored by the PCO and the responsible minister designated by the Act. This includes working with federal regulators, as needed.

Compliance and enforcement of comparable requirements will vary depending on the regulatory scheme in question. Federal regulators will engage with their provincial/territorial counterparts, as needed, to

Federal regulators will retain their authority to ensure compliance with federal regulation. Where regulated parties take advantage of the Act, compliance with federal regulation means that they comply with the comparable provincial/territorial requirement. Federal regulators are able to enforce their respective federal requirement framework. For example, should a regulated party submit false or fraudulent information to the federal regulator regarding their compliance with a comparable provincial or territorial requirement, the federal regulator would be able to enforce compliance under existing authorities related to false or fraudulent information. Should there be an issue or complaint related to compliance with a comparable provincial or territorial requirement, federal regulators will work with the province or territory in question to investigate accordingly.

Contact

Intergovernmental Affairs — Internal Trade
Privy Council Office
85 Sparks Street, Room 1000
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A3
Email: internaltrade-commerceinterieur@pco-bcp.gc.ca