Regulations Amending the Low-materiality Fees Regulations: SOR/2024-154
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 158, Number 15
Registration
SOR/2024-154 June 26, 2024
SERVICE FEES ACT
The Treasury Board, on the recommendation of the President of the Treasury Board, makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Low-materiality Fees Regulations under paragraphs 22(2)(a)footnote a and (c)footnote b of the Service Fees Act footnote c.
Regulations Amending the Low-materiality Fees Regulations
Amendments
1 Subparagraph 2(1)(b)(iii) of the Low-materiality Fees Regulations footnote 1 is replaced by the following:
- (iii) there have not been three reports in respect of the fee and the fee has, at no time since the day on which these Regulations came into force, been $151 or more or referred to in Schedule 2, or
2 The Regulations are amended by adding the following after section 3:
Power to Amend Schedules
Factors to be taken into account
3.1 The President of the Treasury Board must take into account the following factors when amending the schedules in the exercise of the power referred to in subsection 22(3) of the Act:
- (a) the amount of the fee to which the amendment relates;
- (b) the context in which the fee is charged, including the characteristics of the persons to whom it is charged;
- (c) the annual revenue received from the fee as set out in the three most recent reports tabled in respect of the fee; and
- (d) any inaccuracies in the fee descriptions set out in the schedules, including as a result of an amendment to the instrument by which the fee is fixed.
3 Section 4 of Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations is replaced by the following:
4 Charges referred to in subsection 40(1) of the Nunavut Mining Regulations
4 Section 2 of Part 3 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations is replaced by the following:
2 Fees set out in items 5 to 8 of Schedule 1 to the Nunavut Mining Regulations
5 Section 1 of Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the Regulations is replaced by the following:
1 Fee set out in item 3 of Schedule III to the Wildlife Area Regulations
6 Section 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations is replaced by the following:
1 Fees referred to in section 136 of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency General Rules
7 Section 1 of Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations is replaced by the following:
- 1 Fees set out in paragraph 8(a) and subparagraphs 8(b)(i) and (c)(i) of Part 3 of Schedule 2 to the Patent Rules
- 2 Fees set out in paragraph 25(a) and subparagraphs 25(b)(i) and (c)(i) of Part 5 of Schedule 2 to the Patent Rules
- 3 Fees set out in paragraph 1(a) and subparagraphs 1(b)(i) and (c)(i) of Schedule 3 to the Patent Rules
8 Section 5 of Part 7 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations is repealed.
Coming into Force
9 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Issues
On June 23, 2017, the Service Fees Act came into force, thereby imposing several new requirements on government departments related to service fees, such as service standards, remissions, and annual adjustments. These measures were put in place to increase departmental accountability and to improve the Government’s approach to recovering costs of services that have fees.
When the Service Fees Act was under development, it was recognized that fees below a certain threshold (i.e. “low-materiality” fees) should not be subject to all the new requirements contained in the Service Fees Act. The policy approach was developed to ensure that departments focus their accountability efforts, such as service standards, on higher fees rather than low-materiality fees. As a result, the Service Fees Act included an authority for Treasury Board to make regulations in respect of low-materiality fees. The Low-materiality Fees Regulations (the Regulations) came into force on April 25, 2019.
Budget 2023 announced the Government’s intention to make amendments to the Service Fees Act to address some of the feedback received by departments, to provide greater consistency in how fees are applied by government departments and to streamline the administration of fees.
The Service Fees Act was amended on June 23, 2023, through the Budget Implement Act, 2023, No. 1 (BIA No. 1) to, among other things, provide the authority for the Treasury Board to establish factors within the Regulations that the President of the Treasury Board must take into account when exercising a new power to amend the Regulations.
Objective
The objectives of the Regulations Amending the Low-materiality Fees Regulations (the amendments) are to establish the factors the President must take into account when amending the Regulations and make administrative updates to the schedules of the Regulations to ensure they remain accurate.
The power for the President to amend the Regulations expedites and streamlines the administration of changes to the Low-materiality Fees Regulations’ schedules.
Description
The amendments establish the factors that the President of the Treasury Board must consider while exercising the power referred to in subsection 22(3) of the Service Fees Act.
The factors are the following:
- the amount of the fee to which the amendment relates;
- the context in which the fee is charged, including the characteristics of the persons to whom it is charged;
- the annual revenue received from the fee, as set out in the three most recent reports tabled in respect of the fee; and
- any inaccuracies in the fee descriptions set out in the schedules, including as a result of an amendment to the instrument by which a fee is fixed.
The amendments also make administrative amendments to the schedules of the Regulations, such as the removal of section 5 of Part 7 of Schedule 2, given that the fees listed in the Port Wardens Tariff were repealed by Transport Canada in 2021.
Regulatory development
Consultation
The stakeholders impacted by the regulatory amendments are other government departments. Departments were supportive of the amendment to the Service Fees Act providing the President with the power to amend the Low-materiality Fees Regulations, given the goal of expediting, and streamlining administrative processes. This regulatory amendment establishes the final piece required to allow the President to exercise the power provided by subsection 22(3) of the Service Fees Act. The public is not directly affected by the amendments.
The amendments make administrative changes to internal government processes that have no direct impact on the public; as a result, the amendments were exempted from prepublication in the Canada Gazette, Part I.
Modern treaty obligations and Indigenous engagement and consultation
Indigenous peoples are not impacted by these regulatory amendments.
Instrument choice
These regulatory amendments are necessary to allow the President of the Treasury Board to exercise the power provided by subsection 22(3) of the Service Fees Act. Consequently, no other instruments were considered.
Regulatory analysis
Government
The primary stakeholders impacted by the amendments are the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) and other government departments subject to the Service Fees Act. By providing the President of the Treasury Board with the power to amend the Regulations, the process to make regulatory amendments is streamlined, as there is no need for a Treasury Board submission or securing a presentation date with Treasury Board. However, the requirement to secure drafters to draft a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement and to publish in the Canada Gazette, Part II, remain. The efficiencies gained are modest, but important, as Treasury Board’s approval is no longer required to implement changes to fees with relatively minimal financial impact.
Government departments are expected to benefit from the expedited process. The efficiencies gained by the amendments will result in more timely updates to the fees listed in Schedules 1 and 2 and the corresponding departmental fees regulations or fees notices.
Fee payers
Fee payers are not affected by the amendments. The responsibility of administering fees, including low-materiality fees, remains with departments.
Public
The public, as distinct from fee payers, are not affected by the amendments. However, the public will benefit from the government gaining efficiencies and, to a certain extent, minimize costs normally associated with the process of amending the Regulations.
Benefits and costs
The amendments are expected to result in a more efficient process when amending the Regulations in the future, which will result in marginal cost savings when compared to the current process in terms of resources and time required to ensure the approval of a submission by the Treasury Board.
Small business lens
The small business lens does not apply since the amendments do not impact small businesses.
One-for-one rule
The one-for-one rule does not apply since the amendments do not result in administrative burden on businesses.
Regulatory cooperation and alignment
The amendments are related to administrative processes within the government and, as a result, do not present opportunities for regulatory cooperation and alignment.
Strategic environmental assessment
In accordance with the Cabinet Directive on the Environmental Assessment of Policy, Plan and Program Proposals, a preliminary scan concluded that a strategic environmental assessment is not required.
Gender-based analysis plus
No gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) impacts have been identified for these amendments.
Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards
The amendments will come into force on the day on which they are registered.
Contact
Nicole Thomas
Telephone: 343‑549‑8797
Email: Nicole.thomas@tbs-sct.gc.ca