Border Action Plan

About the Regulatory Cooperation Council

On February 4, 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and United States President Barack Obama announced the creation of the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) to better align the two countries’ regulatory approaches, where possible. 

The work of the RCC is guided by Terms of Reference – agreed upon in June 2011 – which support the following principles:

  • Canada and the U.S. will each maintain its own sovereign regulatory system;
  • Regulatory outcomes for consumer protection, health, safety, security and the environment will not be compromised;
  • New regulatory systems will be designed with the goal of achieving alignment, where feasible and appropriate;
  • In addition to resolving existing unnecessary divergences, mechanisms to facilitate and secure future alignment would be developed; 
  • Transparency and early engagement between countries, and with stakeholders, underlie the efforts of the RCC; and
  • We are pursuing opportunities that provide benefits to both Canada and the United States.

The RCC is an initiative that brings together senior representatives of the governments of Canada and the United States under a two-year mandate to increase regulatory cooperation between the two countries.  Mr. David Moloney is the Canadian co-chair of the RCC, while Mr. Boris Bershteyn serves as American lead.

Canada and the United States also tasked a group of senior officials to look at ways to align regulations to ease the flow of goods across the border.  Canadian membership in the RCC includes senior representatives from the departments of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Industry Canada, and Treasury Board Secretariat. 

Additionally, the following Government of Canada departments and agencies lead various RCC working groups: