REGULATORY REFORMS IN CANADIAN TRANSPORTATION SINCE 1987

In recent years, transportation in Canada has undergone marked changes, especially in areas of regulatory reform. These reforms, which eliminated the majority of controls on market entry and pricing together with other economic regulations, began to have major effects in the 1990s. With these changes, a revolutionary restructuring of government management of transport was carried out in the mid 1990s. The central theme of this restructuring was commercialization and decentralization of government operations together with further deregulation of commercial transport. The main regulatory achievements of the federal government, the success of the transport industries in transforming themselves, and adapting to changes have laid the foundation for significant progress and advancement in the new millennium. This paper briefly reviews regulatory changes that have occurred in the 4 major sectors of transport (rail, air, highway, and maritime).