LESS BUREAUCRACY, MORE RESULTS!

Entrepreneurs want to focus on running their business, not paperwork!

The number of public servants increased by 25% over 10 years, which is 2.5 times the rate of population growth1.

Public servants: +25% (2016 to 2025). Population: +10% (2016 to 2025). Public servants grew by +8,975!

Bar chart: Growth in Quebec's Public Service Compared to Population Growth, 2016 to 2025. Text description below.
Accessibility: the public service growth chart in text format

This bar chart, titled "Growth in Quebec's Public Service Compared to Population Growth," shows the size of Quebec's public service workforce each year from 2016 to 2025. The vertical axis runs from 40,000 to 80,000.

The workforce grew from 60,540 in 2016 to 75,686 in 2025, which is highlighted in red. Its highest point was 76,363 in 2024.

A dashed red line, labelled "In line with population growth," shows how the workforce would have grown if it had kept pace with the population. The line starts at the level of the 2016 bar and rises slowly. From 2018 on, every bar is above the line, and the gap is largest in 2024 and 2025.

Quebec public service workforce, 2016 to 2025
Year Workforce
2016 60,540
2017 61,134
2018 63,642
2019 65,818
2020 67,852
2021 66,143
2022 68,686
2023 71,697
2024 76,363
2025 75,686

145,958 That's the number of regulatory requirements in Quebec2, far more than anywhere else in Canada!

Bar chart: Total Regulatory Requirements in Canada in 2025, by province, with federal figures. Text description below.
Accessibility: the regulatory requirements chart in text format

This bar chart, titled "Total Regulatory Requirements in Canada in 2025," shows the number of regulatory requirements in each province. Each bar is split into requirements in regulations (dark grey) and requirements in legislation (yellow), with the total at the end of the bar. Quebec's total is highlighted in red.

Quebec has the most, with 145,958, followed by Ontario with 139,907. Prince Edward Island has the fewest, with 36,776.

A separate box shows the federal government's figures: 87,312 requirements in regulations and 80,648 requirements in legislation.

Regulatory requirements by province, 2025

Province In regulations In legislation Total
Quebec 80,594 65,364 145,958
Ontario 73,361 66,546 139,907
British Columbia 39,026 45,693 84,719
Nova Scotia 35,421 36,163 71,584
Saskatchewan 30,041 38,363 68,404
Alberta 34,719 32,375 67,094
Manitoba 25,993 37,039 63,032
Newfoundland and Labrador 20,973 31,470 52,407
New Brunswick 20,284 31,704 51,988
Prince Edward Island 15,364 21,412 36,776

Quebec imposes 106.6% more regulatory requirements than the average of the other Canadian provinces.

To bring that level in line with the provincial average, a 52% reduction would be required.

It's time to cut red tape!

1: Secrétariat du Conseil du trésor du Québec, Effectif de la fonction publique 2019-2020; 2025-2025. Available online (in French only): https://www.quebec.ca/gouvernement/ministeres-organismes/secretariat-conseil-tresor/publications#c437278

2: CFIB, Counting Constraints: A Comprehensive Count of Canada's Regulatory Requirements (2025 Edition, 5 p. Available online: https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/hubfs/A%20Comprehensive%20Count%20of%20Canadas%20Regulatory%20Requirements%20(2025%20Edition).pdf)

To the Premier of Quebec

SMEs are calling for less bureaucracy and more results

In recent years, the Quebec government has grown significantly without improving service delivery. Between January 2019 and 2026, 55% of all new jobs were created in the public sector.3 From 2016 to 2025, the public service grew by 25%, which is 2.5 times the rate of population growth. A stronger economy starts with fostering the growth of Quebec's small businesses, not expanding government.

The larger the government grows, the heavier the regulatory and administrative burdens. Quebec has the highest number of regulatory requirements in Canada, with 106.6% more than the average of the other provinces!

Entrepreneurs spend more than one month each year complying with unnecessary regulatory requirements, valuable time they could otherwise have spent on new projects, innovation, and growth.

Quebec SMEs are clear on the direction the government should take to improve its efficiency:

  • 94% are calling for a regulatory review in Quebec.4
  • 93% support reducing the size and cost of the provincial public service.5
  • 88% are calling on the government to implement and enforce debt reduction targets.
  • 76% want the government to freeze the operating budgets of all departments at their current levels

We’re asking the Quebec government to:

  1. Create a comprehensive inventory of all regulatory requirements and consult with businesses to eliminate unnecessary red tape.
  2. Reduce the size and cost of the public service by 11.9% to align with population growth.
  3. Meet debt reduction targets and balance the budget by 2028-29.
  4. Freeze the salaries of MPs, ministers, and executives of major Crown corporations until a balanced budget is achieved.
  5. Legislate a 2-for-1 rule to reduce the regulatory burden.

It's time to deliver!

3: MEI, The Alarming Expansion of the Public Sector in Quebec, study, March 2026, 2 p. Available online: https://www.iedm.org/the-alarming-expansion-of-the-public-sector-in-quebec/

4: FCEI, Sondage Votre voix – août 2026 : Questions préélectorales, 2026. Available online (in French only): https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/hubfs/qc-election/08-2026_Graphiques_Sondage_pr%C3%A9%C3%A9lectoral.pdf

5: FCEI, Mémoire prébudgétaire de la FCEI, February 2026, 23 p. Available online (in French only): https://www.cfib-fcei.ca/hubfs/advocacy/pdf/2026/2026-02-Memoire-prebudgetaire-2026-2027-FCEI.pdf
CFIB logo

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 103,000 members across every industry and region. 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.