by Stephen Dafoe
For the first time in the Red Tape Awareness Week Report Card’s 11-year history, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) has given the Government of Alberta an ‘A’ grade. Alberta earned the highest score in the regulatory accountability and regulatory burden sections, and came in second overall.
“The Alberta government stands out as most improved moving from an F grade just a few years ago to joining the A club this year,” said Alberta Provincial Affairs Director Annie Dormuth. “The significant improvement seen over the past couple years demonstrates the Alberta government’s commitment to red tape reduction. We encourage the government to build on that work and make interprovincial cooperation a priority in 2021.”
Alberta’s Associate Minister of Red Tape, Grant Hunter said he felt CFIB have “done an amazing job” at motivating Canadian governments to address red tape.
“Red tape is a silent killer of jobs and economic growth and has no place in a 21st century economy,” Hunter said. “As a former businessman, I know first-hand the monumental cost of red tape. It has been an honour to bring Alberta from a grade of F to an A in our government’s fight to get out of the way of our job creators. We still have mountains to climb but I take my hat off to our hard-working team.”
CFIB gave Manitoba top scoring with top marks for accountability and reducing interprovincial trade barriers
“The bar for good grades on our report card is going up. A decade ago, there was virtually no regulatory measurement or accountability. This has improved and now the real work begins. Governments need to reduce red tape in order to give people back time, reduce frustration, and allow business owners to focus on keeping their businesses afloat. Given our battered economy, this is more important now than ever,” Jones said.
The 2021 Red Tape Report Card is online.
Below is CFIB’s rating of the provinces.
The 2021 Red Tape Report Card grades are:
| Jurisdiction | Regulatory Accountability
(70% of overall grade) |
Regulatory Burden
(15% of overall grade) |
Interprovincial Cooperation
(15% of overall grade) |
Overall Score & Grade |
| Manitoba | 10.0 A | 7.8 B+ | 9.0 A | 9.5 A |
| Alberta | 10.0 A | 8.7 A- | 7.2 B- | 9.4 A |
| Nova Scotia | 10.0 A | 6.0 C- | 8.2 A- | 9.1 A |
| Saskatchewan | 9.7 A | 8.0 A- | 7.3 B | 9.1 A |
| British Columbia | 9.3 A | 6.1 C- | 8.4 A- | 8.7 A- |
| Ontario | 9.3 A | 6.5 C | 6.8 C+ | 8.5 A- |
| Quebec | 9.0 A | 6.1 C- | 2.8 F | 7.6 B |
| Prince Edward
Island |
8.3 A- | 5.8 D+ | 3.9 F | 7.3 B |
| New Brunswick | 6.0 C- | 6.3 C | 3.2 F | 5.6 D |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 4.7 F | 6.1 C- | 3.8 F | 4.7 F |
This article was updated at 10:40 am to add response quote from Grant Hunter.
