Transport Canada remains committed to several initiatives involving the Transportation of Dangerous Goods.
Briefings from the Department at The Ministers General Policy Advisory Council (GPAC), which CTA is a member of, report that over the next four years Transport Canada will continue to work on developing regulatory proposals for:
– Part 6 training (goal to address general awareness and function specific training);
– The Client Identification Database (CID) (database of facilities and locations where transportation of dangerous goods takes place, like shipper facilities, carrier terminals, warehouses etc);
– Fee modernization of TC’s Means of Containment Facilities Registration Program;
– Better harmonizing regulations between Canada and the United States.
It is expected regulatory proposals for these items could be available for consultation in Gazette I by mid-2020. These are in addition to recent updates to PART 7 of the regulations, pertaining to emergency response assistance plans that go into effect March 2020. In addition, TC will be embarking on:
– An electronic shipping documents pilot program that will roll out over the next few years to test the feasibility of going electronic with TDG documentation;
– Updating of the emergency response guidebook (mid to late 2020);
– Continuing to streamline and enhance their enforcement regime to ensure consistent enforcement in all provinces and territories for all supply chain members;
– Enhancing their research and analysis branch to ensure evidence-based research continues to guide TC’s regulatory efforts.
CTA will continue to work with Transport Canada on all of these initiatives through CTA’s TDG Committee.