CFIB hands out record number of “A” grades on Red Tape Report Card

AB only province to receive failing grade for lack of leadership & accountability

Toronto/Calgary, January 22, 2019 – After ten years of helping federal and provincial governments understand the importance of red tape reduction through Red Tape Awareness Week™, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) annual Red Tape Report Card is awarding more A grades than ever before.

“Ten years ago most governments didn’t even know how many rules they were imposing on their constituents—a shocking lack of accountability when you consider that regulations cost citizens a lot of time and money,” stated Laura Jones, CFIB’s executive vice-president.

“When the report card was launched the highest grade was a B+, earned by British Columbia. Today there is a record breaking number of A grades. We haven’t changed the standard, which means most governments are rising to the challenge of measuring, reporting and generally being a lot more accountable with respect to this important way they affect our lives,” said Jones.

This is how CFIB’s Red Tape Report Card shapes up for 2019:

*Quebec and New Brunswick are both noted as not applicable 
as there have been recent changes in government and direction on red tape reduction remains unclear.
 

“Unfortunately, it’s a different scenario in Alberta,” added Richard Truscott, CFIB’s vice-president for Alberta and BC. “Our provincial government continues to ignore red tape as a problem. Political leadership is still the key missing ingredient to get things rolling. As a result, Alberta is the only province to receive a failing grade on our red tape report card,”

CFIB’s report card grades governments along three criteria: strong leadership, comprehensive measurement of the regulatory burden, and whether or not the government has put a cap on regulations in place.  It does not compare provinces on how much regulation is in place, but on their regulatory accountability and transparency, which are essential for successful red tape reduction.

Here are the report card grades for previous years:

N/A = Too soon after an election to know the government’s regulatory accountability commitments

Some important highlights over the years:

• BC has consistently received A grades over the past 8 years (the highest number across the country) and has become a model for regulatory accountability and reform for other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
• Manitoba holds the record for the greatest improvement in one year, going from a D+ in 2017 to an A in 2018 for its comprehensive measurement and its ground-breaking law to eliminate two rules for every new one until 2021 and then one-for-one after that.
• Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan improved their grades to As by setting clear targets for reduction, measuring the burden and showing political leadership.
• Alberta holds the provincial record for worst grades over time, getting Ds and Fs since the report card was created.
• CFIB’s Red Tape Report Card has been suggested as a benchmark for all provinces by the federal government’s Economic Strategy Tables in their “Innovation and Competitiveness Imperative” report.

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Milena Stanoeva, CFIB
647-464-2814 public.affairs@cfib.ca

For Alberta media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Richard Truscott, Vice President, Alberta & BC
866-444-9290 or msalb@cfib.ca

About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 110,000 members across every industry and region, including 10,000 in Alberta. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca