The Province is taking steps to ensure all new or updated government laws and regulations consider the regulatory impact on citizens and small businesses, as part of its commitment to cut red tape and improve the way British Columbians interact with their government.
Delivering on an important commitment made in the 2014-15 Regulatory Reform BC annual report, B.C.’s updated Regulatory Reform Policy requires any changes to provincial legislation, regulations, policies and forms to consider the impact on small businesses, which can be disproportionately affected by red tape. More than 80% of small businesses in B.C. have less than five employees, meaning they often do not have the resources to meet burdensome compliance requirements.
The revised policy is consistent with international regulatory reform best practices and was developed after significant cross-government consultation. It also incorporates input from key regulatory reform partners, including the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and the B.C. Small Business Roundtable.
The centrepiece of the revised policy is an updated Regulatory Impact Assessment Checklist, aimed at supporting government analysts and decision-makers in assessing the impact of potential changes on British Columbians.
The revised policy is also accompanied by a Companion Guide, which contains tools and examples to assist policy and legislation analysts in applying the policy.
Regulatory Reform Policy and Companion Guide: http://ow.ly/EnjI301xyIE
Backgrounders
With the release of an updated Regulatory Reform Policy, the B.C. government has now completed all seven of its 2014 commitments to modernize its approach to regulatory reform.
Regulatory reform refresh:
- Establish an annual Red Tape Reduction Day – The Province held the first Red Tape Reduction Day on March 2, 2016, removed over 200 regulatory requirements and released the Red Tape Reduction for British Columbians Engagement Report.
- Recommending a red tape reduction statement in the Taxpayer Accountability Principles for Crown Corporations in the economy sector – In 2015-16, the final group of Crown corporations implemented the taxpayer accountability principles and performance measures into their service plans.
- Include red tape considerations in IM/IT capital investment criteria – As part of the decision process for investing in information management and information technology projects, the B.C. government now considers how projects streamline processes, improve outcomes or make services easier to access for citizens and businesses.
- Implement a refined regulatory reform policy framework – In June 2016, the Province released the updated Regulatory Reform Policy to ensure the regulatory burden on businesses and citizens does not increase. The policy includes a focus on the impacts to small business and provides a Companion Guide with best practices.
- Extend the net zero increase commitment until 2019 – During Red Tape Awareness Week 2015, the Province committed to extending its net zero increase commitment to 2019.
- Publish the annual report on regulatory reform – The B.C. government continues to fulfill its legislated commitment to release an annual report highlighting its progress on regulatory reform. The 2015-16 Regulatory Reform BC annual report will be available online by the end of June.
- Consult with British Columbians on ideas to reduce red tape and frustration and provide easier access to services – The Province held a six-week public engagement on reducing red tape in fall 2015. More than 5,900 people participated and shared more than 400 ideas. In its engagement report the B.C. government committed to 60 actions based on British Columbians’ ideas, including the launch of an Engagement Button where people canshare their ideas on how to cut red tape online, 24/7.
Learn more about how the Province is working to reduce red tape for British Columbians: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/government/about-the-bc-government/regulatory-reform/pdfs/regulatoryreform_factsheet_march2016.pdf
Have an idea to help cut red tape? Share it now: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/helpcutredtape/
https://news.gov.bc.ca/11362
ARCHIVED: Small Business and Red Tape Reduction
