News Releases

News Release - Manitoba

March 14, 2017

Proposed Legislation will Reduce Regulatory Requirements, First of its Kind Among Provinces: Friesen



The Manitoba government is introducing legislation that would reduce the administrative burden faced by businesses, local governments, non-profits and citizens as they comply with provincial rules and requirements, Finance Minister Cameron Friesen announced today.

“There are currently almost 10,000 documents totalling more than 88,000 pages of requirements impacting Manitobans,” said Friesen.  “This legislation would allow us to take a significant step toward fulfilling our commitment to making Manitoba’s regulatory system transparent, effective and efficient.”

Regulatory requirements are the actions or steps non-profits, businesses, local governments and private citizens must follow to access government programs or services, participate in regulated activities, or conduct business in the province.  These requirements can be found in legislation, regulations, policies, forms and other documents.

The proposed legislation would set out a framework to track and manage regulatory requirements and would require government to:

  • annually track and publicly report on the number of regulatory requirements that exist;
  • make all government forms and policies with regulatory requirements available online;
  • provide the public with opportunity to review and comment on proposed regulatory requirements in order to identify potential unintended consequences;
  • legislate a ‘two-for-one rule’ mandating that until March 31, 2021, for every new requirement created, two existing requirements with double the administrative burden of the new requirement must be removed and post March 31, 2021, a ‘one-for-one’ rule would be implemented; and
  • review regulatory requirements three years following their introduction to ensure they are as effective and efficient as possible.

“Manitoba means business and we are serious about taking action to make our province more competitive and more attractive to those looking to contribute to our economy,” said Friesen.  “This legislation would enable us to make significant progress toward our goal of being the most improved province with respect to regulatory accountability.”

 
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