To keep our stakeholders up to date regarding the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR), the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Directorate has compiled a list of recent consultations and upcoming regulatory amendments along with details and relevant links.
Once the amendment is published in Canada Gazette, II, it will be removed from the table below.
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Amendment |
Purpose |
Status |
|---|---|---|
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Update and clarify several domestic provisions of the TDGR to align with new industry practices and address comments received over the years. Align TDGR with international codes and other federal regulations. These proposed changes would further improve public safety during transportation of dangerous goods, eliminate the need for many equivalency certificates which are considered administrative burden for Canadian businesses, and increase reciprocity with the United States for rail transportation. |
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Order Repealing Certain Regulations made Under the Railway Safety Act |
Provide clarity to stakeholders by removing ambiguity between these Regulations and more modern federal regulations. The repeals would also strengthen the current oversight regime by removing duplicative and redundant provisions. |
Exempted from publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I. Publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II, anticipated late 2024. |
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Order Fixing Fees for Registrations Related to Dangerous Goods Means of Containment |
Introduce new fees and service standards for the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) MOC Facilities Registration Program. These changes would promote better balance between the financial burden borne by service recipients and by Canadians. This regulatory initiative is part of Transport Canada’s Fee Modernization Initiative. |
Publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II is anticipated for late 2024. |
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Modernize outdated domestic requirements for the transport of Dangerous Goods (DGs) by air, and align the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (TDGR) with updates from the international codes. |
Published in Canada Gazette, Part I on November 26, 2022. Publication in the Canada Gazette, Part II is anticipated for early 2025. |
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Provide specific requirements for the transport of DGs by RPA, also known as drones, while minimizing safety risks. These proposed changes would set a clear regulatory framework allowing the transport of certain lower-risk dangerous goods, and by making it easier for Canadians to access these goods. |
Prepublication in the Canada Gazette, Part I is anticipated for early 2025 with a 60-day comment period. |
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Require general awareness and function-specific training and assessment. This approach would better align with the training requirements defined in the international dangerous goods codes. |
Prepublication in the Canada Gazette, Part I is anticipated mid-2025 with a 60-day comment period. |
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Respond to recommendations stemming from the Study on the use of electronic shipping documents for the transport of dangerous goods, by allowing the use of electronic shipping documents for the transportation of dangerous goods by rail and by remotely piloted aircraft. The proposed changes would provide greater flexibility and reduce administrative burden for industry by allowing the use electronic shipping documents instead of paper (for rail and remotely piloted aircraft). |
Prepublication in the Canada Gazette, Part I, is anticipated in mid-2025 with a 75-day comment period. |
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Provide requirements for means of containment facility registrations and define the conditions for suspension, revocation, and refusal of a registration. This amendment would also improve the existing requirements found in Part 5 as they have not been updated for many years. |
Prepublication in the Canada Gazette, Part I, is anticipated for mid-2025 with a 75-day comment period. |
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Assess the feasibility of electronic shipping documents in replacement of paper. |
Project ended March 31, 2022: a notice was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, in May 2022. Executive summary and full report are available. Using electronic shipping documents to transport DGs is still a possibility. Interested carriers must apply for an equivalency certificate to be granted permission to use electronic shipping documents. |
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Modernizing Regulations to Improve Safety and Efficiency Note: The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of the Department of Transportation (DOT) has generously shared the following information within the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Directorate. |
On July 5, 2023, the Daily Journal of the United States Government published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) entitled "Modernizing Regulations to Improve Safety and Efficiency". This ANPRM has identified over 40 topics for consideration in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR; 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 171-180) and seeks stakeholder input on whether to propose a revision as part of a future rulemaking to improve transportation safety and efficiency. In order to fully involve stakeholders, ANPRM is soliciting comments and contributions on issues related to 46 separate topics under consideration. All comments and information received will be used to evaluate and possibly draft proposed amendments. |
Advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) The consultation period ended on October 3, 2023. |
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Bill C-33, the Marine and Rail Transportation Modernization Act, in the House of Commons on November 17, 2022. |
The legislation being put forward proposes a number of reforms to the Railway Safety Act, the Canada Marine Act, Canada Transportation Act, Marine Transportation Security Act, the Customs Act and the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, 1992. |
First reading completed in the House of Commons in November 2022. Second reading in progress. |
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The Annual Regulatory Modernization Bill is a recurring legislative mechanism coordinated by the Treasury Board Secretariat. It enables the Government of Canada to make common sense changes across many pieces of legislation at once to address overly complicated, inconsistent, or outdated requirements on businesses and Canadians. |
Opening of consultation for contributions on March 27, 2023, and closed for evaluation and review as of June 19, 2023. |