Treasury Board president says ministers have identified nearly 500 ways to cut red tape

treasury obligations room chairman Shafqat muhammad ali proclaimed Monday morning the federal government has published progress reports identifying nearly 500 ways departments are cutting red tape to make themselves more efficient.

"Reduced red tape will support Government of Canada priorities, like more efficient reviews of projects to drive economic growth, and greater collaboration with trading partners to reduce barriers and help get products to market faster," Ali said in a statement.

The announcement is a follow-up to Prime Minister Mark Carney's cross-departmental review of all regulations, which he ordered in July. At the time, the prime minister said cutting red tape is essential to "unlocking Canada's full economic potential."

In a background document sent to the media, the federal government highlighted several regulatory achievements across various departments it says will speed up infrastructure projects, get items like drugs and agriculture products to market faster and support international trade.

Throughout the 2025 federal election campaign and in recent months, Carney has pushed the Canadian government to set itself up to make final decisions on major infrastructure within two years.

To that end, the document said the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which looks at the environmental and social impacts of major projects like mines or ports, is "re-engineering its processes" like simplifying templates to meet Carney's goal.

The federal government also says since June 2024, 12 projects entered the federal impact assessment process and eight received early federal assessment decisions in an average of just over three months.

The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) is updating four regulations on activities like exporting and importing oil, gas and electricity, construction of international power lines and reporting of toll information.

The proposed regulations will remove the need for authorization for some activities, the background document said. 

Furthermore, CER has reduced decision timelines for routine applications for pipeline projects under 40 kilometres down to an average of 79 days. According to the background document, four years ago the average timeline was 191 days.

The background document said the minister of health can now make an order deeming certain legislative and regulatory requirements for products like drugs have been met "based on authorizations by a comparable foreign regulatory authority."

"Health Canada wants to increase the use of this pathway, as well as improved data and work-sharing with regulatory partners, to facilitate approvals and access to needed drugs in Canada," the document added.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is "promoting greater international alignment and access to agricultural products" by leveraging decisions from trusted foreign jurisdictions to streamline early assessments of specific products.

The background document also said the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is amending regulations to align with international controls and cut unnecessary customs requirements.

"These combined regulatory amendments are estimated to have a net benefit of $500,000 per year to implicated businesses, as well as an expected $1 million savings to Government from proposed exemptions given the reduction in license applications."

Finally, Transport Canada is working with international bodies to keep Canada aligned with changing global standards, which the federal government says will make it easier for Canadian companies to work globally.

In his statement, Ali said the Red Tape Reduction Office, led out of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, will work with federal regulators to make further progress and collaborate with provinces and territories.

Associate Producer

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