British Columbia’s ‘A’ grade from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is the top mark of any province in Canada this year for cutting red tape for businesses and citizens.

B.C.’s ‘A’ grade is the fourth year in a row that the province has received an ‘A’. CFIB’s executive vice-president Laura Jones presented Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism, Skills, Training and Responsible for Labour with the top ranking ‘A’ at the Topaz Bead Gallery, a small business in Prince George today.

The event was part of CFIB’s Red Tape Awareness Week campaign that raises public awareness about the burden of excessive regulations on small business and citizens. The national campaign also ranks each province and territory in its Annual Red Tape Report Card on efforts to cut red tape. Today’s release of the report card confirmed that B.C. retains its top spot in the country this year for measuring and publicly reporting on the rules, processes and paperwork imposed on small businesses.

As part of Red Tape Awareness week, British Columbia yesterday also continued its commitment to make it easier for small businesses to do business by extending its commitment to a net zero increase of regulatory requirements to 2019. A net zero increase means eliminating one existing requirement when a new requirement is needed up to 2019.

Quotes:

Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond -

“Small businesses are the backbone of our regional economies and that’s why our government has made it a priority to cut red tape to make it easier for them to create jobs. I’d like to thank the CFIB for recognizing our efforts with the top mark in Canada in 2015.”

Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business Naomi Yamamoto -

“Today’s news that we’re still leading the pack in reducing requirements is great news. B.C.’s hard work to reduce red tape is paying off with our fourth ‘A’ grade from the CFIB but we’re going to continue our efforts with our one-in-one-out commitment for regulatory requirements through 2019.”

CFIB executive vice president Laura Jones -

“The B.C. government is one of the only governments in Canada willing to make red tape easier to fight by measuring regulatory requirements, reporting the measures publicly and setting a one-in-one-out target. The Province continues to set the gold standard for accountability and push for new ways to improve on its red tape reduction record. British Columbia deserves its top “A” grade on our report card.”

Quick Facts:

• In the past 13 years, there has been a 42% total reduction in regulatory requirements on citizens and businesses - that is nearly 154,000 requirements off the books.
• Since 2006, the Province has completed more than 200 streamlining initiatives to reduce the time and cost for businesses looking to access government services.

Learn More:

To learn more about Red Tape Awareness Week, please visit:
www.cfib-fcei.ca/english/article/4659-red-tape-awareness-week-2014.html

To find out more about Regulatory Reform in B.C., please visit: www.gov.bc.ca/regulatoryreform

Media Contacts:

Media Relations
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Responsible for Labour
250 387-2799