Top overall marks this year go out to Alberta for the 13th Annual Red Tape Report Card by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
Newfoundland and Labrador received the lowest grade.
The 2023 Red Tape Report Card grades governments in three main areas of regulatory performance.
“First, the regulatory accountability section considers whether governments are measuring regulation and setting regulatory constraints. Second, the “burden” section—where most jurisdictions receive their lowest grades—includes indicators such as the number of regulatory restrictions in each province. Lastly, the new political priority category looks at clear indications that red tape reduction and regulatory modernization are policy priorities of the Premier/Prime Minister and Executive Council/Cabinet,” said the CFIB.
It is awarded each year during Red Tape Awareness Week.
Laura Jones
“Governments do three main things: tax, spend, and regulate. There’s plenty of measurement and accountability on the fiscal side, but too little on the regulatory side,” said Laura Jones, CFIB executive vice-president. “That is why CFIB started grading governments 13 years ago. Since then, governments have made significant progress, but more work needs to be done to ensure governments are not only measuring and reporting their regulatory counts but also reducing the overall burden.”
Annie Dormuth
“After years of failing grades the Alberta government has slowly climbed up the rankings and this year finds itself in the top spot,” said Annie Dormuth, the CFIB’s provincial affairs director for BC and Alberta. “The government has demonstrated that with strong political leadership, progress can be made to reduce red tape for small businesses and all Albertans. While the government has made significant progress, we further challenge them to make red tape reduction part of the solution in other areas like healthcare and housing affordability.”
The 2023 Red Tape Report Card grades:
| Jurisdiction | Regulatory accountability (40%) | Regulatory burden (40%) | Political priority (20%) | Overall score and grade |
| Alberta | 8.9 A- | 8.4 B+ | 9.5 A | 8.8 A- |
| Ontario | 8.8 A- | 7.8 B | 9.5 A | 8.5 B+ |
| British Columbia | 8.9 A- | 8.8 A- | 7.0 C | 8.5 B+ |
| Nova Scotia | 8.8 A- | 7.6 B- | 9.0 A | 8.4 B+ |
| Manitoba | 8.8 A- | 8.3 B+ | 7.5 B- | 8.3 B+ |
| Quebec | 8.8 A- | 7.4 C+ | 9.0 A | 8.3 B+ |
| Saskatchewan | 8.0 B | 7.9 B | 7.0 C | 7.8 B |
| Federal | 6.9 C | 6.2 C- | 7.5 B- | 6.7 C |
| Prince Edward Island | 6.3 C- | 6.7 C | 6.0 C- | 6.4 C- |
| New Brunswick | 4.3 F | 5.8 D | 7.0 C | 5.4 D |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 3.0 F | 3.9 F | 1.5 F | 3.0 F |
To learn more visit: cfib.ca/redtape.
(Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald, covering sports, crime, politics, health, faith, city and breaking news, and business. He works as well as a freelance writer for several national publications and as a consultant in communications and media relations/training. Mario was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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