By introducing requirements for technologies that are still changing, it's possible that the requirements themselves can limit the benefits of a technology or development of new technologies. There's also a possibility that other countries develop requirements in the future that are very different or reflect more advanced technology.
To manage these risks, we're thinking of taking an outcome-based approach to regulations. Outcome-based regulations focus on the results we want from a regulation, instead of a specific process or action that must be followed. Using outcome-based regulations would give companies the flexibility to choose the best way for them to meet the requirement, and help them develop and introduce new systems.
Here's an example of a prescriptive regulation compared to an outcome-based one:
| Example of a prescriptive regulation | Example of an outcome-based regulation |
|---|---|
|
The immobilization system must:
|
The immobilization system must:
|
An outcome-based approach can also provide regulations that are broad enough, that we could accept systems already shown to comply with international requirements.
Also, industry could use an internal procedure or a procedure from an international standard to show that they meet the safety objective of the regulations. If a new international standard is introduced or amended, industry can update their procedures to meet this new standard without needing to maintain a different set of procedures for the Canadian requirements as long as the safety objectives stay the same.
While outcome-based regulations have some advantages, demonstrating compliance may not be sufficient to address our safety goals. In some cases, Transport Canada may add special conditions or tests to the outcome-based approach to confirm our safety goals are met.