Guide to the Federal Regulatory Development Process

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Part 4: Document Checklist and Templates

A number of documents are required to support the approval of GIC regulations. Document requirements at various stages of the approval process are summarized in the following checklist. This part of the guide also provides explanations and sample templates for some of these documents.

Documentation Checklist-Governor in Council Regulations

	Submission for Legal Examination
Documents1	Either the Regulations Section, JUS, or the Departmental Regulations Sections	Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat–Regulatory Affairs Sector (TBS-RAS)2	Submission to the Treasury Board for Pre-Publication Approval Assistant Clerk PCO-OIC	Submission to the Treasury Board for Final Approval Assistant Clerk PCO-OIC
Letter of Transmittal to the Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council	Original signed by departmental manager	One copy or email or diskette	Original signed by ADM and four photocopies	Original signed by ADM and four photocopies
Ministerial Recommendation to the GIC	Draft (unsigned)	Draft (unsigned)		Original signed by minister and one photocopy
Notice of Pre-Publication	Email or diskette	One copy or email or diskette	One original stamped copy and five photocopies3
Order in Council	Email or diskette	One copy or email or diskette		One original stamped copy and six photocopies of both English and French
Regulations	Email or diskette	One copy or email or diskette	One original stamped copy and five photocopies	One original stamped copy and 10 photocopies of both English and French
RIAS	Email or diskette	One copy or email or diskette	Original cover page signed by minister and five photocopies and diskette	Original cover page signed by minister and five photocopies and diskette
Supplementary Note, if any4		One copy or diskette	Original hard copy and four photocopies	Original hard copy and four photocopies
Communications Plan4		One copy or diskette	Original hard copy and four photocopies	Original hard copy and four photocopies
Request for Insertion in the Canada Gazette			Original signed by departmental official	Original signed by departmental official
Artwork, if any	Email or diskette	One copy or email or diskette	Original	Original

On each diskette label, indicate your department, contact name, phone number, and software used.

1.     All documents must be prepared in English and French, except the Request for Insertion in the Canada Gazette and the Letter of Transmittal, which can be submitted in either language.

2.     Send to the Director of Cabinet Committee Operations, TBS-RAS, or to the appropriate TBS-RAS analyst. The analyst will review the draft proposal and may provide comments to departmental officials.

3.     Do not send the final Communications Plan and Supplementary Notes by email.

4.     The number of copies indicated includes a second complete copy for TBS-RAS, which should be provided in a separate envelope.

Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement Cover Page

The RIAS cover page is the recommendation of the sponsoring minister(s) to his or her Treasury Board colleagues to pre-publish a regulation. It should use the format shown in the accompanying template and must be signed by the sponsoring minister(s).

A diskette containing the final version of the RIAS must be included with the submission. It should be clearly identified and placed in a disk mailer envelope.

For additional guidance on developing a RIAS, including a RIAS template, consult the RIAS Writer's Guide.

Formatting Tips for the RIAS Cover Page

 

Ministerial Recommendation

A Ministerial recommendation is the official request from the minister to the GIC to make a regulation pertaining to a specific matter and, when applicable, to request an exemption from pre-publication. The information contained in this document must be identical to the information contained in the Order in Council.

The Ministerial Recommendation accompanies the regulatory proposal when it is submitted to the Treasury Board for final approval, registration, and publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

It is important to use the official title of the minister in the signature block. Please see http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca.

This recommendation is the vehicle by which the principle of ministerial accountability for regulations is honoured. As a result, it cannot be signed by the deputy minister using the authority of paragraph 24(2)(c) of the Interpretation Act. Paragraph 24(3) of the Interpretation Act specifically prohibits deputy ministers from exercising the regulation-making authorities of their ministers, be in it in the making of regulations or recommending regulations to the GIC.

Acting ministers formally designated by Cabinet may make regulations or sign ministerial recommendations if the substantive minister is unavailable to sign documents. In the absence of the substantive minister and the acting ministers, the prime minister or acting prime minister may make regulations or sign recommendations to Council for any department. PCO maintains a current list of any acting ministers.

When the enabling act dictates that more than one minister must sponsor a regulatory proposal, all references to documents signed by "the minister" are intended to mean all ministers named in the act. In practical terms, this means that all sponsoring ministers sign the Ministerial Recommendation (as well as the RIAS).

Formatting Tips for the Ministerial Recommendation

 

Amending regulations

Amending regulations The undersigned has the honour to recommend that Your Excellency in Council, pursuant to section (insert relevant section) of the (insert relevant Act), make the annexed (insert name of the Regulations).	Modification d'un règlement Le/La soussigné(e) a l'honneur de recommander que, en vertu de l'article (insérer l'article applicable) de la Loi(insérer le nom de la loi applicable), Votre Excellence en conseil prenne le Règlement modifiant le Règlement (insérer le nom du règlement applicable), ci-après.
Repealing regulations The undersigned has the honour to recommend that Your Excellency in Council, pursuant to section (insert relevant section) of the (insert relevant Act), make the annexed (insert name of the Regulations).	Abrogation d'un règlement Le/La soussigné(e) a l'honneur de recommander que, en vertu de l'article (insérer l'article applicable) de la Loi(insérer le nom de la loi applicable), Votre Excellence en conseil prenne le Règlement abrogeant le Règlement (insérer le nom du règlement applicable), ci-après.

Supplementary Note

A Supplementary Note is used to inform ministers of confidential (e.g., trade secrets) or sensitive matters (e.g., federal or provincial issues) not found in the RIAS. Supplementary Notes can be initiated by the regulatory organization or requested by the TBS-RAS analyst. Most regulatory submissions do not require a Supplementary Note.

A Supplementary Note is a Cabinet confidence document and, as such, is not released to the public. Because Supplementary Notes contain confidential and/or sensitive information, they should not be sent electronically to PCO-OIC or TBS-RAS.

Regulatory submissions do not contain an explanatory note. Explanatory notes are included only with instruments that are not subject to the government's policy on the pre-publication of draft regulations. This includes OICs that bring legislation into force. For more information, consult the Governor in Council Process Guide, available from PCO-OIC.

Formatting Tips for the Supplementary Note

 

Letters and Templates

Transmittal for Examination by the Department of Justice Canada Legislative Counsel

Regulatory proposals being submitted for examination in accordance with the Statutory Instruments Act should be sent to the director of the Headquarters Regulations Section or to the director of the relevant Departmental Regulations Section. A letter of transmittal signed by the departmental regulatory manager and a copy of the finalized triage statement must accompany the regulatory proposal.

The Letter of Transmittal to the JUS Legislative Counsel (note that in the case of the Departmental Regulations Sections, such as the Transport Canada Regulations Section, the Health Canada Regulations Section, the Environment Canada Regulations Section, and the National Defence Canada Regulations Section, proposals are sent directly to those sections) must include the following:

• The name of the proposed regulation;
• Any deadline for stamped copies;
• A statement indicating whether an exemption from pre-publication will be requested and, if so, an explanation of the reasons as well as the written concurrence from the TBS-RAS portfolio analyst;
• The name of the department's RIAS contact;
• The name and telephone number of the department's legal contact;
• The department's file number;
• The names of instructing officers for both the English and French versions and any relevant information, such as relevant jurisprudence, legal opinions, and correspondence exchanged with the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations; and
• A list of federal departments and agencies that must be consulted about the proposed regulation, along with a statement of the outcome of interdepartmental consultations to date.

The following is a sample Letter of Transmittal.

Transmittal to the Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

The Letter of Transmittal to the Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council should:

• Be dated at the time of sending and signed by an ADM (or director general if the ADM is not available) or the president, in the case of a sponsoring agency;
• State the subject matter, list the contents of the package, provide a short explanation of the submission, and indicate whether it is being submitted for publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I or Part II;
• Specify any special requests (such as a statutory deadline, an upcoming meeting for which the submission is important, if there are multiple items, in what order they should be registered, communications considerations, etc.) related to the timing of approval by the GIC;
• Indicate whether coming into force of the regulation is anticipated prior to GIC approval;
• State when tabling of the regulation will take place (if tabling is required and there is a statutory deadline);
• State whether the submission has financial implications and requires Treasury Board (Part A) approval or whether approval has already been received; and
• Indicate the name, title, and telephone number of the official who can be contacted at all times during business hours for additional information about the submission.

A sample Letter of Transmittal is provided below.

Transmittal for Tabling in the House of Commons

Transmittal for Tabling in the Senate

Notice of Pre-Publication

The Notice of Pre-Publication is the text published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, formally announcing the regulatory organization's intent to regulate. It provides the name of the proposed regulation (or the regulation to be amended) and specifies the number of days during which interested parties may comment. (The Notice of Pre-Publication is followed in the Canada Gazette, Part I, by the text of the proposed regulation and preceded by the RIAS.)

The following are examples of Notices of Pre-Publication for the Canada Gazette, Part I. For convenience, the English and French versions are shown side by side; however, when submitting actual documents, separate versions are required (one language per page).

Notice of Pre-Publication

New Regulations or Amendment of an Existing Regulation (Made by Governor in Council) DEPARTMENT OF (insert name of Department) ACT (insert name of Act) Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section (insert section) of the (insert name of Act), proposes to make the annexed (insert name of Regulations). Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within (30, 60, etc.) days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of this notice and be addressed to (name and address of the person). Signature Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

Nouveau règlement ou modification d'un règlement existant (règlement pris par le gouverneur en conseil) MINISTÈRE DE (insérer le nom du ministère) LOI SUR (insérer le nom de la loi) Avis est donné que le gouverneur en conseil, en vertu de l'article (insérer l'article applicable) de la Loi(insérer le nom de la loi)se propose de prendre le Règlement (insérer le nom du règlement), ci-après. Les intéressés peuvent présenter leurs observations au sujet du projet de règlement dans les (30, 60, etc.) jours suivant la date de publication du présent avis. Ils sont priés d'y citer la Gazette du Canada Partie I, ainsi que la date de publication, et d'envoyer le tout, à\au (nom et adresse de la personne). Le/La greffier(ère) adjoint(e) du Conseil privé Signature

New Regulations or Amendment of a Regulation (Approved by Governor in Council), where Pre-Publication Is Required by Statute DEPARTMENT OF (insert name of Department) ACT (insert name of Act) Notice is hereby given, pursuant to subsection (insert section) of the (insert name of Act), that the (department or agency), pursuant to section (insert section) of that Act, proposes to make the annexed (insert name of Regulations). Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within (30, 60, etc.) days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of this notice and be addressed to (name, address, telephone, fax, email of the person). Signature Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council

Nouveau règlement ou modification (approuvé(e) par le gouverneur en conseil) dans le cas d'une publication préalable exigée par la loi MINISTÈRE DE (insérer le nom du ministère) LOI SUR (insérer le nom de la loi ) Avis est donné, conformément à l'article (insérer l'article applicable) de la Loi (insérer le nom de la loi) que le (ministère/organisme), en vertu de l'article (insérer l'article applicable) de cette loi, se propose de prendre le Règlement (insérer le nom du règlement applicable), ci-après. Les intéressés peuvent présenter leurs observations au sujet du projet de règlement dans les (30, 60, etc.) jours suivant la date de publication du présent avis. Ils sont priés d'y citer la Gazette du Canada, partie I, ainsi que la date de publication et d'envoyer le tout à/au (nom, adresse, téléphone, télécopieur et courriel de la personne). Le/La greffier(ère) adjoint(e) du Conseil privé, Signature

The Communications Plan

All regulatory proposals other than miscellaneous amendment regulations must be accompanied by a communications plan that indicates the following:

• The public environment analysis;
• The target audience(s) for communication initiatives and anticipated reactions;
• The key messages and storyline;
• The strategy and tools that will be used to disseminate information;
• The proposed budget and evaluation methods; and
• The risks involved.

This plan demonstrates to Treasury Board ministers that communications have been given consideration, even if the plan is only to publish in the Canada Gazette.

When the strategy involves a minister's announcement, or if the regulatory proposal has high communications risks or is related to a key government priority, PCO-Communications must be contacted by the department or agency (usually the departmental communications section) to review the communications plan.

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