July 26, 2023 – Today, the Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table (RCT) launched a new online portal, RCT Stakeholder Submission Portal, for Canadians to identify potential regulatory barriers to trade, investment, and labour mobility, as well as potential areas for regulatory cooperation. This portal provides an opportunity to describe regulatory barriers that exist in any number of Canadian jurisdictions, to detail the impact that those barriers have on trade within Canada, and to proactively suggest improvements. In this way, the RCT Stakeholder Submission Portal creates an opportunity to have your voice heard in a way that can create meaningful change.

The RCT was established through the Canadian Free Trade Agreement in 2017 to oversee and support a process to reduce regulatory barriers within Canada. To manage RCT work, an annual Work Plan is created that may be updated throughout the year.

Since its launch, the RCT has established five Work Plans that have included 35 items for active negotiation in sectors as varied as health, safety, transportation, and construction. These efforts have resulted in the resolution of 17 reconciliation priorities and three cooperation initiatives which has produced improved alignment across participating jurisdictions in construction codes, occupational health and safety requirements, entry-level truck driver training requirements, and corporate registration practices, among other things.

Feedback may be submitted through the portal at any time. To be considered for the first iteration of the 2024 RCT Work Plan, submissions should be made by September 15, 2023. The 2024 RCT Work Plan will be released on the RCT website in early January 2024. The current RCT Work Plan can be found here.