Canada's Energy Efficiency Regulations

Regulatory process

Canada's Energy Efficiency Act provides for the making and enforcement of regulations concerning efficiency standards for energy-using products, as well as the labelling of energy-using products and the collection of data on energy use.

The Energy Efficiency Regulations establish energy efficiency standards for a wide range of energy-using products, with the objective of eliminating the least energy-efficient products from the Canadian market. They apply to regulated energy-using products imported into Canada or manufactured in Canada and shipped from one province or territory to another. Changes to the EnerGuide label are also made through amendments to the Regulations.

As part of the regulatory process, Natural Resources Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) consults stakeholders by making public its intentions and providing access to draft proposals. Proposed amendments and important related information are available through this Web site in the form of bulletins and information is also provided as to how to submit comments. The draft proposal is then pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part 1, and an official notice is posted on the Canada Gazette web site. This allows for public scrutiny during the official comment period. The proposal is then updated if necessary and proceeds to the final approval and publication in Part II of the Canada Gazette. Another notice is posted on the Web site. All public notices relating to pre-publication and publication of the Regulations can be found under Regulation Announcements.

A summary of the current Regulations is available on Guide to Regulations.

Act Amendments

In 2017 changes to the Energy Efficiency Act gave the federal government more tools to maintain harmonization with other jurisdictions, like the United States or a province to avoid or reduce unnecessary differences across jurisdictions which can create added burden on businesses.

Ministerial Regulations

• The first tool is Ministerial Regulations (article 20.1) to make technical and administrative changes to regulations to maintain harmonization of a specific element with another jurisdiction. This authority aims to reduce the amount of time required to align with changes in another jurisdiction.
• With Amendment 17, this authority has been enabled for 60 products in section 11.1 of the Regulations (coming into force on June 21, 2023).
• This page will be updated when products are being considered for the first use of Ministerial Regulations under the Energy Efficiency Act.

Technical Standards Documents

• The second tool provides the authority to incorporate by reference technical standards documents (article 20.2) to harmonize with another jurisdiction. This authority is designed to provide an alternative to direct incorporation of another jurisdiction’s regulation or standards developed by a third party.
• Technical standards documents will be published in both official languages and maintained on Natural Resources Canada’s website. The documents will be managed by the Minister and may include requirements and guidance for testing standards, energy efficiency standards, and/or information requirements. The documents may be modified from time to time.

More information

• Canada’s Energy Efficiency Regulations
• Canada’s Energy Efficiency Act