OECD Reviews of Regulatory Reform: Canada 2002 : Maintaining Leadership through Innovation

OECD's review of regulatory reform in Canada. It finds that Canada has a mature, effective and innovative system of regulatory governance closely linked to the government’s public policy goals. Canadians attach growing priority to health, safety and the environment, and seek a balance among economic, competitiveness and social goals. This is a demanding agenda: in international trade – a major driver of the economy – Canada needs to maintain a careful balance between bilateral and multilateral liberalisation efforts. Further work is needed to improve the effectiveness of the single internal market. Competition policy needs to make a much stronger contribution to regulatory reform and market openness. Despite a positive policy shift, some important sectors are protected through import and foreign ownership restrictions. The recently launched government’s Innovation Strategy is expected to make a major contribution to address these challenges.