Regulatory transparency and openness

The Government of Canada is making more data and information available to Canadians than ever before. Canadians are also being offered more opportunities to participate in discussions on government policies and priorities.

As a regulator, Health Canada plays an important role in protecting the health and safety of Canadians and is committed to greater transparency and openness to further strengthen trust in our regulatory decisions.

We have launched the Regulatory Transparency and Openness Framework to support this commitment and the Government of Canada's Open Government initiative. The Framework outlines concrete steps we are taking to improve access to timely, useful and relevant health and safety information.

Every year, we will list the actions we will undertake to enhance regulatory transparency and openness. And every year we will report on what has been achieved.

This Framework will:

  • Help Canadians to better understand how and why our decisions are made. They can use this information to make well-informed decisions on their health and the health of their families.
  • Assist industry to be better positioned to comply with current regulatory requirements and plan for upcoming regulatory changes.

Here you will find

Regulatory Transparency and Openness Framework and Action Plan 2015-2018

The Regulatory Transparency and Openness Framework and Action Plan outlines concrete steps we are taking to improve access to timely, useful and relevant health and safety information, while still respecting privacy, confidentiality and security considerations.

Planning and reporting

Health Canada is committed to being transparent and open and has launched the Regulatory Transparency and Openness Framework to show how we are delivering results. Over the years to come, we will continue to make even more information available and easily accessible.

We will set out themes and concrete actions we will take to improve our regulatory transparency and openness and report regularly on our progress.

2016-2017

2015-2016

2014-2015

Building on our strong foundation

We already make a lot of regulatory information publicly available and provide opportunities for public and stakeholder involvement in decision-making. This includes information related to the regulation of food, health and consumer products and pesticides, contributions to science and research, general health and safety advice and details regarding consultations and Departmental operations.

Health and safety information and engagement

We post information on Drugs, Health and Consumer Products and Pesticides so Canadians can have the latest information on important health and safety issues to support their decision making.  For example:

We also publish information and advice to support Canadians in making healthy decisions.  This includes information related to Food and Nutrition, Healthy Living, Risks, Safety & Emergencies, Diseases and Conditions.

We post all engagement opportunities on the Consulting with Canadians website. Interested Canadians and stakeholders can also sign up to the Health Canada Stakeholder Registry in order to stay informed of the latest consultations and to participate in engagement activities.

Enabling guidance and science information

We publish guidance for industry to help them keep up to date with Departmental activities and help them fulfill their responsibilities. For example:

We also publish Science, Research and Data to support scientists and experts. This includes information on research activities, various surveillance and monitoring activities and publicly available data sets.

Enforcement information

We post information on our inspection and enforcement activities so Canadians can see how industry follows the rules that have been put in place to protect their health and safety. For example:

In addition, we make information related to Departmental Operations available.

Send us your comments

Your input and comments are valuable to us. Let us know how we are doing and provide us your advice on how we can continue to improve.

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