Administrative Burden Baseline: Update 2026

Under the Administrative Burden Baseline (ABB) initiative, regulatory organizations are required to provide a count of the requirements in federal regulations that impose an administrative burden on businesses.

For the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC):

• The total baseline count as of June 30, 2014, was 8,169.
• The administrative burden baseline count for 2026 is 6,901. This figure reflects 5,756 administrative requirements set out in 165 forms, and 1,145 administrative requirements set out in regulations.

In 2025, Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), updated its ABB count guidance. In response, the CNSC chose to reassess its full suite of regulations to ensure that the entire ABB regulatory count was consistent and aligned with the revised guidance. This analysis resulted in a modest increase of 50 additional burdens contained in regulations.

For 2026, the CNSC conducted an additional ABB count as it repealed and replaced 1 regulation and amended a second during that year. As a result, the ABB count further increased by 63 burdens, as follows:

• The amended General Nuclear Safety and Control Regulations added 15 new burdens due to new reporting requirements.
• The replacement of the Nuclear Security Regulations added 48 new burdens stemming from new or expanded regulatory areas such as cyber security, design basis threat assessments and integration with federal security screening processes.

The following table identifies all federal regulations that are administered by the CNSC and that impose an ABB. It provides the original ABB counts (as reported in 2025), the revised 2025 ABB based on the reassessment of the regulatory suite, and the updated 2026 ABB counts with new regulatory burdens.

Title of regulation	Original 2025 ABB count	Revised 2025 ABB count based on new TBS guidance	2026 ABB count
General Nuclear Safety and Control Regulations	96	94	Total: 111 111 in regulations 0 in forms
Radiation Protection Regulations	55	59	Total: 59 39 in regulations 20 in forms
Class I Nuclear Facilities Regulations	458	487	Total: 487 155 in regulations 332 in forms
Class II Nuclear Facilities and Prescribed Equipment Regulations	2,727	2,743	Total: 2,743 182 in regulations 2,561 in forms
Uranium Mines and Mills Regulations	170	181	Total: 181 181 in regulations 0 in forms
Nuclear Substances and Radiation Devices Regulations	2,508	2,490	Total: 2,487 163 in regulations 2,324 in forms
Packaging and Transportation of Nuclear Substances Regulations	124	110	Total: 110 110 in regulations 0 in forms
Nuclear Security Regulations	41	131	Total: 179 179 in regulations 0 in forms
Nuclear Non-proliferation Import and Export Control Regulations	542	544	Total: 544 25 in regulations 519 in forms
Total 2026 ABB count			6,901

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Previous years

• Administrative Burden Baseline: Update 2025  

Previous years' counts for the CNSC are available upon request.

For more information

• Government-wide Administrative Burden Baseline counts
• Government-wide Forward Regulatory Plans
• Cabinet Directive on Regulation
• Developing and improving federal regulations
• Canada–United States Regulatory Cooperation Council

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit:

• the Canada Gazette
• the Government of Canada’s Consulting with Canadians page and use the “Find a consultation” option