May 23, 2003
Working Paper Prepared by Environment Canada

Introduction

Environment Canada.s efforts to improve its policies and regulations will require reviewing and building on our past efforts and successes. This compendium highlights key regulatory stories that contribute to this effort. It also provides examples that expand upon and support the discussion in a companion document, the Environment Canada Perspectives Paper on Smart Regulation. Leveraging the knowledge gained from these experiences will be critical for improving our regulatory decisions, both now and in the future.

The focus of the compendium is four-fold:

• to provide information on the innovative market based instruments that have been used and the ones being developed;
• to detail the steps made and being made to maximise harmonisation between jurisdictions and achieve convergence;
• to demonstrate gains in administrative efficiency; and
• to delineate some current and future smart regulation candidates.

Overall, the compendium illustrates that Environment Canada is already on the path to Smart Regulation and with continued vigilance, will stay the course.

This compendium is organised in three main sections - Regulatory Instruments; Regulatory Process and Development; and In Progress, Future Smart Regulations.