Explosives Regulations

Enabling Act(s)

Explosives Act

Rationale

The purpose of the Regulatory Review of the Explosives Regulations, 2013 is to further modernize the Regulations according to the Government of Canada’s Regulatory Modernization agenda.

Narrative

In spring 2021, NRCan’s Explosives Program initiated a comprehensive review of the Regulations to modernize the explosives regulatory regime in line with the Government of Canada’s regulatory modernization agenda. The Explosives Regulatory Review engaged in extensive research, carried out targeted national and international comparisons to identify best practices, and conducted stakeholder and expert outreach to seek sector views on regulatory challenges.

NRCan collected over 280 regulatory irritants from internal and external stakeholders and experts. The following five key themes emerged from this outreach; The safety and security requirements in the Regulations need to better align with the risk; the licensing and fee scheme in the Regulations is overly complex and outdated; administrative burden in the Regulations needs to be reduced; the inaccuracies and “clean-up” of the Regulations need to be addressed; and the regulatory regime requires modernization to allow for new requirements.

To address the regulatory irritants, two consecutive omnibus regulatory amendment packages are planned to be brought forward. The goal of the first regulatory package is to modernize the explosives regulatory regime by enhancing safety and security and increasing regulatory efficiency. The goal of the second regulatory package is to update the permissions e.g. licensing, and cost recovery regime.

Date of last review or amendment

NRCan conducted a comprehensive review of the Explosives Regulations in 2012 that resulted in the Explosives Regulations, 2013.

In November 2018 a set of amendments came into force that enhanced the safety and security of handling explosives at Canadian ports and wharves, as well as miscellaneous minor amendments.

NRCan brought forward an amendments package focused on strengthening Canada’s security regime by updating the list of regulated explosives precursor chemicals, otherwise known as restricted components. These proposed amendments were published in the Canada Gazette Part II in June 2022 and came into force on June 3, 2023.

Targeted start for review

The Regulatory Review of the Explosives Regulations, 2013 was launched in spring 2021. It is expected that the first set of amendments would be published in Canada Gazette, Part II by the end of spring 2024 and the second set of amendments published in Canada Gazette Part II by late spring 2025, with a staggered coming into force for some elements.

Stakeholder Feedback

Following the launch of the Regulatory Review of the Explosives Regulations, 2013, NRCan conducted outreach with stakeholders to announce the Review and the plan going forward, and to seek views on current regulatory irritants. In the feedback received, stakeholders expressed support for the Review and its modernization goals and identified areas of the Regulations that required update or renewal. NRCan conducted an extensive consultation with stakeholders on the first set of proposed amendments in spring 2022 which was generally positive. NRCan launched another stakeholder consultation in spring 2023 on the final set of regulatory amendments, and stakeholder feedback was generally positive, although stakeholders recommended a delayed coming into force for some proposed amendments in the package.

Outcomes

The Regulations will be amended to meet modernization goals.

For further information

For further information, please contact NRCan’s Explosives Program at ERDmms@nrcan.gc.ca.

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