April 11, 2022
Manitoba Earns Top Grade in Canada from Canadian Federation of Independent Business for Reducing Red Tape
– – –Province Continues to Lead on Supporting Small Business by Cutting Red Tape and Eliminating Regulatory Hurdles: Goertzen
The Manitoba government’s efforts to reduce red tape have been recognized by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) with an ‘A’ rating from the small business organization, the top mark in its cross-country ranking of all provinces and territories, Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced today following the release of the CFIB’s annual Red Tape Report Card.
“This rating demonstrates the ongoing commitment from our government to reduce red tape and make it easier for small businesses to do business in Manitoba,” said Goertzen. “Reducing red tape and regulatory hurdles faced by small business are especially important now as so many business recover from the uncertainty during the last two years.”
The report card grades governments in two areas. The accountability section considers whether governments are measuring regulation and setting regulatory budgets. The burden section includes some broad indicators such as the number of regulatory restrictions in each province.
“Manitoba is an established leader in regulatory accountability and has the most comprehensive measure of the regulatory burden in North America,” said Laura Jones, executive vice-president, CFIB. “As small businesses look to economic recovery, it is more important than ever that governments commit to reducing costly red tape, and we applaud the province for once again achieving an A grade.”
Manitoba received a perfect score with an ‘A’ on regulatory accountability and ‘B+’ on regulatory burden for a total score of 9.4 and ‘A’ grade, the highest of any province in Canada.
Provincial wine importation rules are a high-visibility indicator of the regulatory burden with numerous groups advocating for a fix over the past number of decades, noted CFIB. While this is a very specific indicator, whether direct-to-consumer sales of locally produced wine from Canadian wineries are allowed, it is symbolic of a broader commitment to reduce regulatory barriers between provinces.
Only three provinces, Manitoba, British Columbia (B.C.) and Nova Scotia, allow direct-to-consumer shipments. These provinces received the highest score in this area. Saskatchewan received a partial score as B.C.-produced wines can be shipped directly to residents. The rest of the provinces received a score of zero.
The CFIB has been ranking provincial efforts to reduce red tape since 2011. Since that time, Manitoba has consistently raised its rating to the current grade ‘A’ level of success.
The full results of the CFIB Red Tape Report Card can be found at www.cfib-fcei.ca/en/media/news-releases/red-tape-grades-are-governments-have-improved-accountability-have-long-way-go.
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