Canada Maintaining Leadership Through Innovation

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Canada has a 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. 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. Canada is one of many OECD countries to request a broad review by the OECD of its regulatory practices and reforms. This review presents an overall picture, set within a macro-economic context, of regulatory achievements and challenges including the quality of the public sector, competition policy and market openness. It also assesses progress in the telecommunications sector.