Alberta and Nova Scotia have earned top grades in the 14th annual Red Tape Report Card released Wednesday by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) as part of its Red Tape Awareness Week.
The CFIB said they were the only two provinces in 2024 to receive an “A.” Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island received the lowest grades, while New Brunswick earned the title of most improved jurisdiction, increasing their grade from a D to a C, it said.
Keyli Loeppky
“CFIB started issuing its Red Tape Report Card over a decade ago to encourage more government accountability. At the time, the grades were low as only a few governments were tracking and reporting the regulatory burden they impose,” said Keyli Loeppky, director of interprovincial affairs at CFIB. “Today’s grades are much improved, with most governments taking progress on red tape reduction seriously.”
“Red tape reduction is a way for governments to address public policy challenges like healthcare and housing, while making lives easier and more affordable for Canadians and small business owners. For over 15 years, CFIB has been holding governments accountable by encouraging them to measure and reduce their regulatory burden. While most governments have the right framework in place, red tape reduction needs to remain a top priority going forward to ensure the impacts are felt on the ground for citizens and business owners, and not just included in an annual report.”
The national organization said the 2024 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 includes indicators such as the number of regulatory restrictions in each jurisdiction. Lastly, the political priority category looks at clear indications that red tape reduction and regulatory modernization are priorities of the Premier/Prime Minister and Executive Council/ Cabinet.
“Last year, CFIB challenged governments to measure and reduce the physician administrative burden, allowing them to prioritize patients over paperwork. In this year’s report card, CFIB awarded governments that took up the challenge with bonus points. Most jurisdictions implemented initiatives to do this, except Saskatchewan and the federal government,” it said.
Annie Dormuth
“After years of failing grades the Alberta government has slowly climbed up the rankings and found itself in the top spot last year, while maintaining its ranking this year,” said Annie Dormuth, Alberta provincial affairs director. “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 2024 Red Tape Report Card grades:
| Jurisdiction | Regulatory accountability(40%) | Regulatory burden(40%) | Political priority(20%) | Physician burden(Bonus 2%) | Overall score and grade | |||||
Alberta | 8.9 | A- | 9.2 | A | 10 | A | 10 | 9.4 | A | |
Nova Scotia | 8.8 | A- | 8.2 | B | 10 | A | 10 | 9.0 | A | |
Ontario | 8.4 | B+ | 7.8 | B | 10 | A | 10 | 8.7 | A- | |
British Columbia | 8.9 | A- | 9.0 | A | 4.5 | F | 10 | 8.3 | B+ | |
Quebec | 8.8 | A- | 6.5 | C- | 8.5 | B+ | 10 | 8.0 | B | |
Saskatchewan | 8.0 | B | 7.9 | B | 5.5 | D | 0 | 7.5 | B- | |
New Brunswick | 7.9 | B | 5.9 | D | 6.5 | C- | 5 | 6.9 | C | |
Federal | 6.6 | C | 6.5 | C- | 7.5 | B- | 0 | 6.7 | C | |
Prince Edward Island | 6.3 | C- | 6.5 | C- | 6.5 | C- | 5 | 6.5 | C- | |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 3.0 | F | 4.7 | F | 5.5 | D | 10 | 4.4 | F | |
Manitoba* | 8.8 | A- | 8.4 | B+ | NA | NA | 10 | NA | NA | |
| *Due to a change in government in Manitoba in October 2023, 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. CFIB will resume grading Manitoba in all categories in our 2025 report card. | ||||||||||
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 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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