Alberta has secured the highest overall grade in the country, an “A”, for the second consecutive year in the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB)’s 15th annual Red Tape Report Card released today during Red Tape Awareness Week.
Nova Scotia and Ontario follow closely behind Alberta, while Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador both receive failing grades this year.
Corinne Pohlmann
“For 16 years, CFIB has been holding governments accountable to measuring and reducing their regulatory burdens. While many governments have the right frameworks in place, red tape reduction needs to see a renewed focus at all levels in the year ahead,” said Corinne Pohlmann, Executive Vice-President of Advocacy at CFIB. “Red tape reduction is the key to boosting Canadian business productivity and will give Canada’s entrepreneurs back the time and resources they need to grow our economy.”
The CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region.
The CFIB said the 2025 Red Tape Report Card grades governments in three major areas of regulatory performance:
• Regulatory accountability, which considers whether governments are measuring regulation and setting regulatory constraints.
• Regulatory burden, which includes indicators such as the number of regulatory restrictions in each jurisdiction.
• Political priority, which looks at clear indications that red tape reduction and regulatory modernization are priorities for the Premier/Prime Minister and Executive Council/Cabinet.
This year’s report card also has a bonus indicator based on government housing initiatives.
The 2025 Red Tape Report Card grades:
| Jurisdiction | Regulatory accountability (40%) | Regulatory burden (40%) | Political priority (20%) | Housing initiatives (Bonus 2%) | Overall score and grade | ||||
| Alberta | 8.9 | A- | 9.3 | A | 10 | A | 10 | 9.5 | A |
| Nova Scotia | 8.8 | A- | 8.1 | B | 10 | A | 10 | 8.9 | A- |
| Ontario | 8.9 | A- | 7.9 | B | 10 | A | 10 | 8.9 | A- |
| British Columbia | 8.9 | A- | 8.9 | A- | 5.5 | D | 10 | 8.4 | B+ |
| Quebec | 8.8 | A- | 6.7 | C | 9.5 | A | 10 | 8.3 | B+ |
| Saskatchewan | 8.0 | B | 8.0 | B | 6.0 | C- | 0 | 7.6 | B- |
| Federal | 6.6 | C | 7.0 | C | 6.5 | C- | 10 | 7.0 | C |
| Prince Edward Island | 5.8 | D | 6.5 | C- | 6.5 | C- | 10 | 6.4 | C- |
| Manitoba | 1.8 | F | 8.8 | A- | 2.0 | F | 5 | 4.7 | F |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 3.0 | F | 5.5 | D | 6.5 | C- | 0 | 4.7 | F |
| New Brunswick* | 5.6 | D | 6.0 | C- | NA | NA | 5 | NA | NA |
*Due to a change in government in New Brunswick in October 2024, CFIB has assigned the province a status of “NA” (Not applicable) in lieu of a grade in the political priority section. As a result, the province is also marked as “NA” for the overall grade in this year’s report card, acknowledging the transition to a new government. We will resume grading New Brunswick in all categories in our 2026 report card.
SeoRhin Yoo
“While some governments have made progress this year, others have fallen behind. Manitoba, for example, took a colossal step backwards after it eliminated its Red Tape Accountability Act, dropping from a near best-in-class B+ in 2023 to an F this year,” said SeoRhin Yoo, a senior policy analyst for interprovincial affairs at CFIB and report card co-author. “Too many jurisdictions in Canada are bogged down in bureaucracy. We need all levels of government to make red tape reduction a priority.”
Mario Toneguzzi
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 was named in 2021 and 2024 as one of the top business journalists in the world by PR News. He was also named by RETHINK to its global list of Top Retail Experts 2024 and 2025.
About Us
Canada’s Podcast is the number one podcast in Canada for entrepreneurs and business owners. Established in 2016, the podcast network has interviewed over 600 Canadian entrepreneurs from coast-to-coast.
With hosts in each province, entrepreneurs have a local and national format to tell their stories, talk about their journey and provide inspiration for anyone starting their entrepreneurial journey and well- established founders.
The commitment to a grass roots approach has built a loyal audience on all our social channels and YouTube – 500,000+ lifetime YouTube views, 200,000 + audio downloads, 35,000 + average monthly social impressions, 10,000 + engaged social followers and 35,000 newsletter subscribers. Canada’s Podcast is proud to provide a local, national and international presence for Canadian entrepreneurs to build their brand and tell their story.
