Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology

Comité permanent de l'industrie, des sciences et de la technologie

For immediate release

Ottawa, April 29, 2019 -

On April 29, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology presented its Fifteenth Report in the House of Commons entitled Impacts of Canada’s Regulatory Structure on Small Business: Between Protection and Competition, in which the Committee makes 11 recommendations.

Canada’s regulatory framework is important to support businesses and ensure public health and safety. However, when regulations are duplicated or not harmonized, they can create an unfair burden on businesses, especially for small businesses. Additionally, the lack of harmonization can hinder market access for Canadian companies by slowing down some approval processes, increasing costs and creating barriers to trade within Canada and internationally. Ultimately, regulatory burden can hinder competitiveness and innovation.

Recently, the federal government has implemented various initiatives to reduce this burden. However, they can only have a substantial impact if they are accompanied by a change in culture within regulatory bodies, wherein supporting business competitiveness and encouraging innovation is considered as important as protecting public health and safety.

The Committee held six meetings on this study in Ottawa and received 5 briefs.

The report is available on the Committee's web site.