As all levels of governments shift their focus to help businesses recover, red tape reduction has never been more important or necessary.
Cutting red tape saves businesses time and money, while improving compliance to make life safer for everyone. In fact, CFIB estimates that it costs Canadian businesses approximately $36 billion per year to comply with regulations from all levels of government in 2017 – about $10 billion of that is red tape (about $340 million in Saskatchewan alone).
You can learn more by reading CFIB's Research Snapshot: The Cost of Government Regulation on Canadian Businesses.
Our recommendations for how the next provincial government can reduce red tape for small businesses, include:
- Reducing tape with a focus on making it easier for small businesses to operate during the recovery:
- Focus on helping provide sector-specific relief, in particular, to those hardest-hit by the pandemic including in hospitality, arts and recreation, personal services, etc.;
- Ensuring the mandatory regulatory review plans of Ministries, Agencies and Crown Corporations be driven by concerns raised by businesses;
- Encouraging municipalities to reduce their regulatory burden on small business (e.g. adopting a Direct Cost Estimator and reducing the time to obtain a commercial building permit to a maximum of 2 weeks);
- Through the Council of the Federation, working with other provincial, territorial and federal leaders to ensure the success of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement and the reduction of inter-provincial trade barriers; and
- Eliminating the requirement for employers to apply for a specific permit if an employee wants to observe a public holiday on a different day.
Do you have stories to share about how red tape has negatively impacted your business? Call CFIB today at 1-888-234-2232 or send an email to [email protected].