🍁 civid v1

Status and purpose

• Bill C-291 was at first reading on June 17, 2026.
• It would amend the Department of Industry Act to require small business impact assessments for certain federal legislative initiatives.

Key changes

• The Minister would be required to examine every bill introduced or presented to either House of Parliament by a minister of the Crown, and every regulation required to be tabled before either House, to determine whether any provision could significantly affect Canadian small businesses.
• Where applicable, the Minister would have to arrange for an impact assessment to be tabled before the relevant House at the first convenient opportunity. For a proposed regulation, the assessment would also have to be published with it in the Canada Gazette.
• The Act would add protecting and promoting the role of small businesses in the Canadian economy to the Minister’s objectives.
• Assessments would consider access to financial assistance, investment conditions, participation in a competitive marketplace, and a “net positive impact” principle concerning small business sustainability.

New regulation-making power

• The Governor in Council could, on the Minister’s recommendation, make regulations about how significant effects are identified, how assessments are prepared and submitted, and what they must address.
• Those regulations could address descriptions of expected quantitative and qualitative costs and benefits for Canadian businesses with fewer than 50 employees, and define how the net positive impact principle applies.

Who is affected

• The requirements would apply to the Minister’s examination of specified government bills and regulations. Canadian small businesses are the focus of the assessments; the provided text does not give them a direct obligation.
• The text does not specify a financial cost for conducting assessments.