Book Description

Canada's federal regulatory policy contains mandatory requirements that departments and agencies, before sponsoring a regulation, must show that regulation is the best alternative and that the regulatory program is structured to maximise the gains to beneficiaries in relation to costs to Canadians. This document is a guide to the use of cost benefit analysis for demonstrating that a proposed regulation maximises net benefit. It reviews how cost benefit analysis fits into the regulatory process, provides a framework for choosing regulatory and non-regulatory alternatives, and describes the type and level of analysis that must be completed before preparing Regulatory Impact Analysis Statements. The guide ends with sections on evaluating impacts to business, consumer impact assessment, evaluation of risk and uncertainty, cost estimation, discounting, and evaluation of environmental quality & other public goods.