Finance Minister Jim Flaherty today called for for a single securities regulator to replace the existing patchwork of provincial systems.

However, in a speech to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce this morning, Flaherty set no deadline for the creation of such a body and said the federal government might not even be involved once the regulator is up and running.

Flaherty said Canada’s current system of 13 different securities organizations makes it unnecessarily difficult to do business in Canada and is impeding the country’s international competitiveness.

“Regulations in multiple jurisdictions can needlessly delay financing and slow down businesses that are trying to grow,” Flaherty said.

“Companies faced with these obstacles may simply throw up their hands and find private financing or choose markets outside Canada,” he warned.

The idea of single agency will be discussed by Flaherty and his provincial counterparts later this month at a meeting in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

While Ontario is in favour of a single regulator, the other provinces is known as a passport system, which would harmonize provincial regulation of capital markets, but keep the provincial agencies.

In his May budget, Flaherty pledged to promote the notion of a national market regulator.

The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) today voiced its support for Flaherty’s participation in the ongoing effort to create a single securities regulator for this country.

“We commend the federal government, and Minister Flaherty in particular, for the position they have taken on this important issue. A common interpretation of a single body of securities legislation and a single set of rules, that takes into consideration provincial and territorial concerns, would get rid of the inefficiency of 13 separate regulators which has a negative impact on the financial well-being of all Canadians,” said Raymond Protti, President and CEO of the CBA.