Cutting Red Tape for All Canadians Bill

Moved second reading of Bill S-7, An Act to modernize certain regulatory and administrative processes.

She said: Honourable senators, I’m pleased to rise today to speak to Bill S-7, the cutting red tape for all Canadians act.

For some time, Canadians and businesses have been asking the government to cut red tape, simplify processes and make it easier to access services they rely on. This bill is the first iteration of a recurring bill to do just that. At its heart, Bill S-7 is about reducing unnecessary red tape and improving the efficiency and responsiveness of the federal regulatory system.

Red tape includes things like filling out the same forms repeatedly, waiting too long for approvals and using old systems because the rules haven’t kept up with technology.

Cutting red tape doesn’t only mean removing repetitive regulations but also making regulations smarter. These necessary changes will not come at the expense of protecting Canadians. They are about making regulations clearer and processes faster, which enables Canadians and businesses to get things done.

These changes will save time and money for businesses. As one of the backbones of Canada’s economy and success, this ultimately benefits all Canadians.

Businesses create the goods and services that have made, and will continue to make, our country so prosperous. They invest in new ideas, create jobs across the country and ensure that Canadians can compete and succeed in a rapidly changing global economy.

When businesses have the confidence to invest and grow, the benefits are felt far beyond the factory floor, office or storefront. They are felt by workers, families and communities from coast to coast to coast.

In a rapidly changing global economy, we must ensure our regulatory system keeps pace with new technologies, business models and opportunities for growth.

We know that federal regulations are required to protect the health, safety, security and well-being of Canadians and the environment. Right now, many of these regulations are outdated or duplicative. A modern and effective regulatory system helps prioritize the health and wellness of Canadians and the environment while supporting innovation and growth to allow Canada to flourish.

Honourable senators, this bill is a key part of ensuring the federal regulatory system can meet the moment. Bill S-7 will enable Canada’s regulatory system to reflect today’s reality instead of yesterday’s technology. It contains a series of important proposals that support progress across a wide range of areas.

It would reduce unnecessary barriers so Canadian businesses can be more productive and competitive; help Canadian products, services and innovations reach the market faster; make project reviews more efficient and predictable; deliver faster, more responsive regulatory services for Canadians and businesses; and strengthen Canada’s competitiveness, allowing businesses across the country to thrive. These are all things businesses have been calling on the government to advance.

Bill S-7 identifies 31 amendments to existing legislation and their accompanying regulations that would reduce red tape for businesses, stakeholders and Canadians. These amendments will have important and tangible impacts.

One area where positive impacts are expected is regarding the use of digital tools to improve services. This legislation would support Canada’s leadership in 5G smart devices and the next generation of digital tools by amending the Radiocommunication Act.

These changes would authorize the Minister of Industry to use automated decision making to speed up licensing and accelerate the pace at which wireless products can get to market. For example, low-risk wireless devices, like Bluetooth headsets, would be subject to a simpler registration process. This will help to facilitate the adoption of emerging wireless technologies and contribute to increased connectivity.

A second expected positive impact will be smarter and simpler reporting. Honourable senators, for years, the government has been hearing from stakeholders that reporting requirements can be burdensome. Bill S-7 would improve Transport Canada’s ability to protect confidential business information under the Canada Transportation Act, eliminate unnecessary inspections under the Marine Transportation Security Act and use automated processes.

It would also remove duplicative reporting requirements under the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, has been preparing and tabling reports that contain much of the same information. The amendment would allow the requirements to be met if the information has been tabled in each house of Parliament a single time.

A further impact of Bill S-7 will be in relation to opening up internal trade. To allow agricultural products to be more easily sold across Canada, the bill would eliminate more than 160 outdated marketing rules from the Agricultural Products Marketing Act and streamline the process for updating fees. This reduces administrative costs and delays and will save the government the equivalent of about six months of work.

More generally, the impact of Bill S-7 is to simplify processes while respecting governing principles and applicable laws. For example, Bill S-7 would amend the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management Act and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management Act in order to align the legislation with hazardous workplace product rules of the Hazardous Products Act.

Offshore energy operators, workers and regulators would benefit from clearer requirements, improved compliance and enhanced workplace health and safety protections.

Bill S-7 would also amend the Health of Animals Act to enable more flexible approaches to managing international waste, including new treatment technologies and approved third-party programs.

Businesses would benefit from more efficient and cost-effective waste management options. For example, airlines are currently required to dispose of waste in a designated landfill or incineration site. The changes to the Health of Animals Act would allow for the disposal of waste in environmentally responsible ways, including recycling and composting.

Honourable senators, these few examples demonstrate how targeted legislative changes can deliver meaningful and impactful results. They help reduce unnecessary barriers for businesses, improve outcomes for Canadians and support a regulatory system that is more responsive.

This legislation will advance the broader goal of ensuring that regulations protect the public interest while enabling growth, innovation and competitiveness.

Overall, the bill is expected to deliver significant costs and time savings, including at least $264 million for businesses and the government over 10 years.

These amendments are important, but what is equally important is that these amendments do not affect the strong health, safety and environmental safeguards that protect Canadians.

Canada has one of the strongest regulatory frameworks in the world. While this bill will amend legislation and its accompanying regulations, it will not alter or affect the strong safeguards we have in place.

In fact, the cutting red tape for all Canadians act introduces new measures to protect the environment, including new fines for polluters and more effective methods of conducting environmental inspections.

For example, amendments to the Environmental Violations Administrative Monetary Penalties Act would allow for a more proportionate and efficient approach to environmental enforcement.

They would enable administrative monetary penalties, AMPs, for the pollution prevention provisions under the Fisheries Act by increasing the maximum penalty amount for a violation and by extending certain limitation periods. These changes facilitate productivity and a level playing field by allowing industry to address environmental non-compliance in a manner that is quick, predictable and consistent.

The bill also amends the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Examination Regulations and the Canadian Bill of Rights Examination Regulations to require that the Charter and Bill of Rights examinations required by those regulations must be conducted without delay.

All regulations are subject to the Cabinet Directive on Regulation, which requires all federal regulators to “. . . protect and advance the public interest.” Public interest is defined to include “. . . the health, safety, security, social and economic well-being of Canadians, and the environment.”

It is required for regulators to assess the social and economic impact of each regulatory proposal on diverse groups of Canadians. These analyses are made public as part of the regulation-making process. At all times, regulations must respect the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Honourable senators, this is not a one-time bill. The President of the Treasury Board launched a Red Tape Review that identified nearly 500 areas where red tape can be reduced. This is only the first iteration of a bill that is meant to be a recurring legislative mechanism to allow the federal government to address overly complicated, inconsistent or outdated requirements and keep the regulatory system up to date.

It prioritizes transparency to ensure the government continues to be accountable to Canadians and Canadian businesses.

This includes annual reporting on the measures put in place and the progress made in reducing the regulatory burden.

The bill also addresses challenges raised by businesses and Canadians through consultations and targeted regulatory reviews. Key stakeholders, including the Economic Strategy Tables and the Advisory Council on Economic Growth, have stressed that having such a recurring mechanism in place is critical to improving Canada’s regulatory system.

By amending laws that are too inflexible, too specific or simply outdated, this bill is an important reminder of the need for ongoing regulatory review and legislation that stands the test of time.

The bill does that by helping to address irritants in regulatory processes experienced by businesses and Canadians and ensuring regulatory processes evolve in tandem with technology.

It is important to recognize that the bill before us today is not the only measure the government is undertaking to create a modernized regulatory system. While amendments to the 31 targeted pieces of legislation are required to update their respective regulations, this is not the case for all regulation improvements.

This bill is one part of the government’s efforts to reduce unnecessary burden and ensure that regulations remain effective and efficient.

Existing efforts have been undertaken to make regulations work better for Canadians.

In 2024, regulators removed $10 million more in administrative burden on businesses than they added. They also took 38 more regulations off the books than they introduced for a net reduction of 276 regulations since the 2012-13 fiscal year.

In 2025, the government established the Red Tape Reduction Office. It works closely with all federal regulators to help reduce barriers to innovation, productivity and economic growth, while reducing costs for Canadians and businesses.

There is also the Centre for Regulatory Innovation, which works across government to help regulators and the regulatory system keep pace with technology. It has committed $1.7 million over three years to advance initiatives, such as streamlining approvals for new fertilizers and modernizing certification standards and technology in the use of aviation.

This will help departments identify practical ways to improve regulatory processes and support more timely decision making. It will also help ensure that Canada’s regulatory framework keeps pace with new technologies to best serve Canadians.

From 2020 to 2025, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat provided $14.2 million to help modernize regulations through projects like drone pesticide studies and streamlined greenhouse gas reporting. In July 2025, the President of the Treasury Board launched a 60-day Red Tape Review.

To conduct the review, departments and agencies that have regulatory responsibilities examined regulations in their portfolios, including how they are administered, and proposed actions to eliminate red tape.

This included removing outdated regulations, reducing duplication with provincial rules and making it easier to access and deliver services.

Progress reports released in September 2025 identified nearly 500 initiatives to streamline services, cut duplication and reduce costs for Canadians and businesses. Some of the proposed initiatives include reducing red tape and making Canada’s agriculture sector more economically resilient; a pilot on real‑time payroll reporting to improve Employment Insurance administration; and providing access to new drugs more quickly.

Each of these initiatives may be modest on their own, but together, they can have a meaningful impact by reducing friction, improving efficiency and helping Canadians and businesses spend less time navigating administrative processes.

Through this work, over 120 red tape irritants have already been removed.

In December 2025, the government also launched horizontal red tape reviews to identify broader opportunities to reduce regulatory barriers and costs for Canadians and businesses.

These horizontal reviews will dig deeper with a targeted focus on themes that cut across multiple departments.

In addition, just last year, the government held the first Red Tape Reduction Summit, where businesses from across Canada identified regulatory challenges and opportunities to improve the system. These conversations provided valuable insights into where the government can make the greatest difference by reducing unnecessary burden while maintaining important protections.

For example, the proposed amendments to the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Atlantic Accord Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management Act and the Canada–Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Resources Accord Implementation and Offshore Renewable Energy Management Act were suggested after consultation with many relevant stakeholders, including offshore workers, labour unions, regulators, marine transfer service providers and many others.

Consultations not only included relevant stakeholders but also other levels of government. Federal and provincial ministers met for the first time in May of this year to strengthen collaboration and support a more coordinated approach to reducing red tape across the country.

They reaffirmed a common goal of making governments work faster and smarter for Canadians by simplifying requirements, leveraging digital services and updating policies and regulations.

These conversations reflect a growing recognition that many regulatory challenges cross jurisdictions and are best addressed through partnership and alignment.

The cutting red tape for all Canadians act is only part of the government’s ongoing efforts to improve the federal regulatory system.

Honourable senators, while many of the measures contained in this bill are technical in nature, their impact is practical and far‑reaching. Taken together, these proposals would help reduce unnecessary burden and improve efficiency. They would also ensure that Canada’s regulatory framework can better respond to new technologies, evolving industries and changing economic realities. For businesses, that means greater certainty and fewer unnecessary barriers to innovation, investment and growth. For Canadians, it means more responsive government, stronger economic opportunities and a regulatory system that continues to protect health, safety, security and the environment while delivering results more effectively.

More broadly, this bill reflects an important principle: Regulations should not remain unchanged simply because they have existed for a long time. They should evolve alongside the country they serve.

In the challenging times in which we find ourselves, making it easier for Canadian businesses to innovate, invest and trade is more important than ever.

By helping to modernize federal legislation and maintain a regulatory system that is both effective and efficient, this bill would help ensure that Canada remains competitive, innovative and well positioned for the future.

Thank you, honourable senators, in advance for your support of this important and timely bill.

Will Senator Petten take a few questions?

Yes.

Thank you very much.

First of all, red tape reduction and efficiency are always good, but we need to know more details here. I am wondering about a few things. You mentioned in your speech — and I noted this also in a media report — that the Liberal government estimates that $264 million is projected to be saved from Bill S-7. How much of that will be from federal public service layoffs, and how many federal public servants’ jobs will be cut due to this regulatory review? What departments will be affected in that, and how many federal public servants will be cut in each of those departments?

Thank you for your question, Senator Batters. The efficiencies proposed in this bill are not aimed at cutting jobs.

Well, there were a couple of points in your remarks when you were speaking about “. . . the use of digital tools to improve services” by the government, and you also mentioned at one point, in one example, it “. . . will save the government the equivalent of about six months of work.” I would think that both of those probably mean that the federal public servants who would normally be doing those things might be cut.

Can you please look into that for us? That is an important part of knowing what this bill involves and an overall scope of it. Due to the provisions of Bill S-7, wouldn’t fewer federal public servants be needed to grant approvals, carry out inspections and handle other regulatory work that is done by them currently but that would not be required to be done by them due to Bill S-7?

Senator Batters, this bill is not looking at reducing the labour force. Of course, we will be studying this bill in committee, and when the appropriate people are there, if you would like to get more information on some of this stuff, I’m sure they will be readily available to help us in this study.

I would like to get some answers from the government right now if possible. If you’re saying that the $264 million in projected savings is not coming from federal public service jobs being cut, then how does the government calculate that they are going to save that $264 million from this act? What are the details of that substantial projected savings amount?

What they’re hoping to see as a result of some of these cuts is how they can help businesses grow, and a big portion of this bill, as well, is about small businesses. It is all about looking at how we can be more efficient than we are now and also helping more businesses thrive in our country.

Would Senator Petten accept a question?

I understand. I read Bill C-7. There is no direct connection to Indigenous peoples. However, the bill refers to 31 laws.

In your deliberations and in the message you conveyed to the government, of course, did you consider whether certain committees, such as the Committee on Indigenous Peoples, will be given the opportunity to study the bill in order to make recommendations or raise concerns, given that it affects fisheries, natural resources and other areas?

Thank you.

I don’t know if it’s been decided yet what committee this bill will go to, so I guess they will decide after looking at the issues. As I understand, there are no Indigenous issues that have been identified in this bill.

Senator Audette, do you have a supplementary question?

Yes.

With Bill C-5, Bill C-39 and Bill S-7, there are positive or negative impacts on Indigenous Peoples, so I would be very surprised if there are none. If we want to be constructive, can the message be passed along that we make sure that we have Indigenous witnesses, no matter which position?

Thank you.

Yes, I have your message, and I will pass that along. Thank you.

Will Senator Petten take a question?

Yes.

Thank you.

I wanted to ask about Bill C-5, Bill C-39 and now Bill S-7. Some Canadians and some stakeholders, when they hear about cutting red tape, don’t necessarily feel reassured by that language. You talked about consultations in your speech. What have those consultations revealed, and how is the government planning to respond to some of the concerns that have been raised?

This bill was heavily influenced by stakeholders, and what they wanted in a bill was to reduce the burdens that they are experiencing in businesses. There has been extensive consultation with a number of organizations to come to this. Of course, we have to realize that this is just the beginning of a bill. We will be coming back, and there will probably be a lot more to come. They will be able to be involved in further iterations of this bill.

There are a number, as you say, of pieces of legislation that are involved in this particular bill. Some of them were overhanging from previous legislative proposals, so it made sense to group them together.

Grouping them together for readiness was stakeholder feedback and the appetite to move forward at this time. The President of the Treasury Board has explained that, instead of individual departments, he is proposing a separate package of legislative changes. Some of them were only maybe a page in length. For some of them, it made more sense for the government to put this bill together. It was a more efficient way to deal with the proposals because of the concerns of them being outdated now. Some of it was just small things that needed to be done, and it made more sense for them to be done this way. So it was more efficient to be able to do it grouped together with a number of bills.

It is my understanding that they will be reviewed. There is a process in place. Of course, as I indicated earlier, this is the first iteration of this bill, and there will be recurring things. If something is not working, doesn’t seem to be right or is not attaining the efficiency we are looking for, they will address it, even in a further bill that will be upcoming.

Senator Batters, do you have another question?

Yes, I do.

Going back to the $264 million in projected savings, I’m wondering if you can provide us with examples of how the government will calculate that number. I’m assuming they didn’t just pluck $264 million out of the air. I would like to know how they project that calculation can be arrived at.

Senator Batters, this is a very extensive bill. It’s very detailed. This is one of those questions that would be good to ask when we perform our committee review of this bill.

Okay. I will move on to another question.

You mentioned in your speech what I believe you called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms examination regulations. Another part included something else related to examination regulations. You said that this bill added the phrase “without delay.” Did the government really need to add these words to indicate that they must do something without delay? I would think, generally, that should be assumed.

How bad were these delays that they had to add the words “without delay” to those two regulations?

They are just reinforcing that no one will be taking anything for granted.

I’m sorry, but I didn’t hear your response.

I said that, instead of making an assumption, they are reinforcing that this is the right thing to do.