B.C. gets a “A” for red tape reduction from small business group

The provincial government has received top marks from a small business group for cutting red tape.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ annual red tape report card gave B.C. an A grade, the highest in Canada. The federal government and Quebec had the second best grades at a B+ each.

The CFIB says B.C. was the first province in Canada to pass legislation requiring annual reporting of its regulatory requirements. They say the number of regulations in B.C. have been reduced by 42 per cent since 2001.

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“BC is leading the way in Canada in addressing the problems with too much regulation, they have legislation to measure and report all new regulations annually; they have a net zero rule, where if they bring in a new regulation, they have to remove one,” says Mike Klassen, Director of Provincial Affairs at the CFIB.

“They also have a regulatory reform branch who we meet with regularly to give our feedback, which is unique in Canada. Other governments are now starting to follow B.C.’s lead, including our federal government.”

The province says it has several new red tape cutting measures on the books for 2014 including a program on “how to start a restaurant in B.C.,” which aims to minimize the number of interactions with government in order to get the business off the ground.

98 per cent of all businesses in B.C. are small businesses, according to the Ministry of State for Tourism and Small Business.