Public Health Agency of Canada’s Regulatory Stock Review Plan: 2021-2023

The Regulatory Stock Review Plan is a public list and description of reviews of regulations that the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) plans to undertake within a three-year period. It is intended to give Canadians, including businesses and Indigenous peoples, and trading partners, an opportunity to inform the reviews of regulations and to plan for the future.

The stock review plan identifies a PHAC point of contact for the reviews. The stock review plan will be adjusted and updated over time to reflect PHAC's regulatory priorities and changes to the operating environment. Existing legislation and regulations remain in force.

Stock Review Plan 2021 – 2023:

In Budget 2018, the Government announced a regulatory reform agenda focused on removing barriers to innovation and encouraging economic growth. Targeted sectoral reviews were completed in the health and biosciences, agri-food and aquaculture, and transportation and infrastructure sectors.

PHAC participated in the centrally-led regulatory reviews targeting the agri-food and aquaculture sector. This review, along with a concurrent internal review of other PHAC program areas, helped inform the development of PHAC's regulatory stock review plan for the next three years.

Human and Animal Pathogen Oversight

As part of the Government's Agri-food and Aquaculture Regulatory Sector Review, PHAC and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) committed to explore opportunities to increase clarity and decrease administrative burden on parties regulated by both agencies by early 2021. These specific opportunities are:

• alignment of different definitions within the Health of Animals Act (HAA) and the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act (HPTA); and
• risk-based exemptions from duplicative regulatory requirements.

Please refer to the Agri-food and Aquaculture Regulatory Review Roadmap for more information related to this theme and initiative:

• PHAC and CFIA Alignment Initiative

Additional Legislative and Regulatory Review

Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations

The Human Pathogens and Toxins Act and Human Pathogens and Toxins Regulations (HPTR) came into full effect in 2015. As part of the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement, PHAC committed to the Government's life-cycle approach to regulatory development through an evaluation of the effectiveness of the HPTR in meeting its objectives.

The evaluation of the HPTR will be incorporated into existing performance frameworks and reporting where possible. The first evaluation was scheduled to take place in 2020, five years after the HPTR came into force. Progress on the evaluation has slowed due to the Public Health Agency of Canada's priority to lead the Government's response to COVID-19, and the evaluation is now expected by March 2022.

Quarantine Regulations

The Quarantine Act came into force in 2006 and supports the World Health Organization's International Health Regulations, to which Canada is a signatory. The Quarantine Act and Quarantine Regulations have received significant attention in light of the COVID-19 response, and a thorough evaluation is expected. PHAC will conduct a review of the Quarantine Regulations in 2021 to ensure that they are aligned with evolving requirements at the international level.

Departmental Contact Information

For additional information on PHAC's Regulatory Stock Review Plan, please contact us at PHAC.pathogens.pathogenes.ASPC@canada.ca.