Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Canada’s agriculture and agri-food regulatory framework is considered among the most robust internationally, supported by science-based decisions, trusted food regulatory bodies and a regulatory regime that strives to adjust to emerging challenges. These strengths can also lead to complexity, which can be challenging for businesses and producers to navigate, and be perceived as limiting for economic growth, innovation and competitiveness. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has been working with other regulators—primarily the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency—to address regulatory challenges facing the sector.
On July 9, the President of the Treasury Board launched a 60-day review of regulations across all departments and agencies with regulatory responsibilities. As part of this exercise, ministers were instructed to review regulations in their portfolios and propose measures to eliminate red tape. On September 8, departments and agencies from across the Government of Canada published progress reports on their respective web pages to outline early achievements and next steps in the ongoing commitment to eliminate red tape. Canada’s red tape reduction office, led out of the Treasury Board, will be working with federal regulators to move these initiatives forward, including undertaking consultations with partners and stakeholders.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and its portfolio partners welcomed this opportunity to highlight efforts to modernize agriculture regulations—to reduce red tape, improve service delivery and support innovation—without compromising the health, safety or environment of Canadians.
AAFC’s Progress Report includes 18 initiatives—six of which have been achieved and are ongoing or upcoming, some of which include proposed legislative modernization.
Through a variety of initiatives outlined in the report, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada is working to support a more streamlined and agile approach to the regulatory system. As an example, through the Department’s Agile Regulations Table—a novel government-stakeholder collaboration model launched in 2020—we have prioritized regulatory innovation and agility by jointly engaging industry and regulators to determine priorities and pursue regulatory innovation and experimentation. Through this table, we will continue to address the cumulative and economic impacts of regulations, aim to resolve persistent regulatory irritants and enable innovation through pilot projects.
Another example is that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada digitized and streamlined various processes under the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act Program, including for submitting loan registrations, defaults and claims for losses. This is expected to result in faster service delivery and further reduce the administrative burden on producers, lenders and public servants. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada will continue its work to support a more streamlined and agile approach to the regulatory system. In fact, most of the ongoing initiatives outlined in the department’s report are anticipated to be completed within the next two years.
We know that Canadian farmers depend on a nimble regulatory framework to foster growth and innovation in the sector. To support this growth and innovation, we remain committed to working with industry and regulatory partners to establish a more efficient, transparent and responsive regulatory system.
As you will soon hear from my colleagues, taken together, the progress reports published by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada represent the start of a substantial red tape reduction agenda for the agriculture and agri-food sector.
I would now like to invite my colleagues from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada to present their progress reports and their efforts to modernize regulations.