CFIB gives Ontario an A- in new Red Tape Report Card

 

Ontario’s regulatory accountability grade improves to an A 

Toronto, January 27, 2021 – As part of its 12th annual Red Tape Awareness Week™, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) released its updated annual Red Tape Report Card, grading provinces in three key areas: regulatory accountability, regulatory burden, and interprovincial cooperation (progress on eliminating internal trade barriers). Last year, grades were awarded for regulatory accountability only.

This year, Ontario scored an A for regulatory accountability, up from A- in 2020. Regulatory accountability makes up 70 per cent of the overall grade this year. Scores of C for regulatory burden and C+ for interprovincial cooperation – which each account for 15 per cent of the remaining score – give Ontario a final overall grade of A- for 2021.  

“The Ontario government delivered on its commitment to update and publish a cross-government regulatory count last year, in spite of COVID-19,” said Julie Kwiecinski, director of provincial affairs for Ontario. “While the count lacks the number of regulatory requirements on people, it is extremely comprehensive, and includes a total for each government ministry. We are hopeful that the government will continue this ministry-by-ministry public transparency to maintain a high regulatory accountability grade.”

During the pandemic, the Ontario government made many important regulatory changes to help small businesses cope with COVID-19, such as temporarily, then permanently, allowing alcohol with takeout and delivery orders, and truck deliveries to grocery stores, pharmacies, and other retail stores 24 hours a day to ensure shelves are adequately stocked.

In addition, the government avoided red tape by creating a streamlined portal to easily access three provincial COVID-19 relief programs in one place.

“We’ve seen during the pandemic how quickly government can make meaningful regulatory changes on demand,” said Ryan Mallough, director of provincial affairs for Ontario. “Moving forward, we are counting on the Ontario government to maintain its high standard for regulatory accountability and new-found regulatory agility for economically-critical red tape reduction.”

For more information on Ontario’s 2021 grades and the new report card criteria, refer to the 2021 Red Tape Report Card.

For media inquiries or interviews, please contact:
Milena Stanoeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@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 42,000 in Ontario. 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.