REGULATORY MODERNIZATION
According to the OECD’s Product Market Regulations indicators, Canada ranks 35th out of 38 member countries in terms of regulatory burden. Regulatory stagnation stifles innovation, competition, and productivity in our economy. Senator Deacon advocates for a whole-of-government approach to an agile, modernized regulatory system that accelerates a pro-competitive, innovative, economy while still protecting consumers from risks and harms.
“There is an urgent need for ongoing, agile regulatory reform across our entire economy. This reform is critical if we want to encourage businesses — large and small — to innovate, invest and achieve productivity improvements. Prioritizing regulatory agility is an exceedingly low-cost way for Canada to become a globally competitive market for innovators, while delivering affordability and protection to consumers.”
-Senator Colin Deacon
Key Resources
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September 10th, 2025
This document discusses the challenges Canada faces as it relates to regulatory stagnation, notably in keeping up to date with technological advances. Building on the May 2024 workshop “The Use of Standards in Government Rule-Making”, this document provides recommendations to the Government of Canada, including amendments to the Statutory Instruments Act, updating TBS directive on procurement and modernizing Canada’s SDOs.
You can read the proposal here.
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May 1st, 2025
This report highlights the use of regulatory sandboxes in Canada and other jurisdictions. It also highlights the benefits and limitations of using this regulatory instrument. Click here to learn more.
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July 22nd, 2024
On May 29th, 2024, Senator Yuen Pau Woo and Senator Colin Deacon hosted a “Workshop on the Use of Standards in Government Rule-Making,” bringing together stakeholders from standards development organizations (SDOs), provincial regulators, and federal government officials. The workshop highlighted the need to improve Canada's regulatory processes.
This report outlines the key insights from that discussion, and a few avenues for modernizing Canada's regulatory regime. Click here to see the full report.
La version française est également disponible ici.
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September 26th, 2023
Canada’s current approach to rulemaking is not keeping pace with the deployment of new digital technologies.
CIGI co-hosted an event at the Senate of Canada with Senators Yuen Pau Woo and Colin Deacon.
CIGI Senior Fellow Michel Girard presented his research paper “Canada Needs Its “New Approach” to Streamline Digital Rulemaking” to Parliamentarians, proposing the modernization of the Statutory Instruments Act to enable rulemaking to keep pace with the release of digital technologies.