Administrative Burden Baseline: Update 2023

In its Red Tape Reduction Action Plan, the Government committed to build on the efforts of the paperwork Burden Reduction Initiative by requiring departments, through the Administrative Burden Baseline, to provide a count of the requirements in federal regulations that impose an administrative burden on business.

The Administrative Burden Baseline provides Canadians with a clear metric on the total number of requirements in federal regulations and associated forms that impose an administrative burden on business. This baseline contributes to the openness and transparency of the federal regulatory system. Administrative burden includes planning, collecting, processing and reporting of information, and completing forms and retaining data required by the federal government to comply with a regulation. This includes filling out licence applications and forms, as well as finding and compiling data for audits and becoming familiar with information requirements.

Only those regulatory requirements imposing an administrative burden are within scope of the Administrative Burden Baseline initiative. The findings reported below are the result of an analysis of any changes to administrative requirements within regulations, documents incorporated by reference, or forms. "Incorporation by Reference" (IbR) describes a drafting technique that introduces the content of an internal (CFIA) or external (non-CFIA) document (such as a policy, directive, list, or standard) into a regulation without having to reproduce the document's text in the regulation. This allows for more agility and updates to regulatory oversight, which supports more modern regulations. All federal regulations administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that have requirements that impose an administrative burden on business are identified below.

The total administrative burden count for 2023 is 4,888. The total count on June 30, 2014 (the baseline count) was 10,989. Compared to 2014, the 2023 figures represent an overall CFIA administrative burden decrease of 56%. In addition, the 2023 net administrative burden represents an 11% reduction or decrease of 620 compared with the 2022 administrative burden count of 5,508.

For administrative burden associated with regulations, the recent modernization of the Health of Animals Regulations for hatcheries contributed to this reduction. This regulatory change resulted in updates to the Health of Animals Regulations, the development of supporting IbRs, and the repeal of the Hatchery Regulations. The new regulations reflect a modernized and outcome-based approach which provides producers with flexibility to develop personalized plans to meet regulatory requirements, resulting in a net administrative burden decrease of 107.

Another slight decrease in the administrative burden count came from forms. While 2 new forms were added, these new forms replace a previous requirement for stakeholders to submit letters, thereby streamlining and simplifying the application process, and reducing correspondence that delays approvals. Stakeholders should experience improvements despite an increase in burden from these forms. In addition, 17 forms were updated or revised. Many of these revisions resulted in minor adjustments, however 1 large form was revised, resulting in a significant decrease in administrative burden. Overall, the changes made to forms resulted in a net administrative burden decrease of 64.

The largest decrease in administrative burden came from the exclusion of an IbR previously included with a count of 432. This IbR document (Susceptible species of aquatic animals) provides a list of aquatic species susceptible to certain controlled disease. As this particular IbR does not contain administrative requirements, it was removed from the administrative burden count.

Collectively, the impact of regulatory changes, documents incorporated by reference, and forms resulted in a net decrease in administrative burden of 620 for 2023. Since the baseline administrative burden count in 2014, the 2023 count represents an overall decrease of approximately 56% to administrative burden by the CFIA.

Administrative Burden Baseline Count as of June 30, 2023

Food and Drugs Act (as it relates to food)

• Food and Drugs Regulations

Please note that the administrative burden baseline counts for the Food and Drugs Act (as it relates to food), are posted on Health Canada's website. Visit Health Canada's Administrative Burden Baseline page to view this count.

Previous years' counts for the CFIA are available upon request.

Contact

Canadian Food Inspection Agency
cfia.legislation-legislation.acia@inspection.gc.ca

For more information

All of the government's Acts and Regulations can be found on the Justice Laws website.

Consult the following for links to the Cabinet Directive on Regulation and supporting policies and guidance, and for information on government-wide regulatory initiatives implemented by departments and agencies across the Government of Canada:

• Federal regulatory management
• Learn more about regulatory cooperation

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit:

• Consulting with Canadians
• Canada Gazette