Canada's government was elected on a mandate to spend less and invest more. A crucial part of delivering those savings is eliminating inefficient red tape - outdated and overly complicated regulations that raise costs, reduce productivity, and stifle economic growth.
On July 9, the Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board, launched a Red Tape review of regulations across federal departments and agencies with regulatory responsibilities.
As part of this review, Ministers will review regulations in their portfolios and propose actions and measures to eliminate red tape -- including removing outdated regulation, reducing duplication with provincial rules, and making it easier to access and deliver services. The review will be overseen by the recently created Red Tape Reduction Office, and within 60 days, Ministers will report to the President of the Treasury Board on their organizations' progress and next steps.
A leaner, more focused government will make regulations more efficient, services more effective, and unlock more private capital for Canadian workers and businesses - to build the strongest economy in the G7.
Quotes
"Canada's new government has a mandate to spend less and invest more. To that end, we will remove red tape by eliminating outdated regulation. It's time to make government more efficient, make its processes more effective, and to catalyze more private capital so we can build the strongest economy in the G7."
- The Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada
"Regulations play a key role in protecting the health and safety of Canadians but to stay effective, they must be regularly reviewed. Cutting unnecessary red tape is essential to unlocking Canada's full economic potential."
- The Honourable Shafqat Ali, President of the Treasury Board
Quick facts
- According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), the combined cost of regulation to businesses from all three levels of government was estimated at $51.5 billion in 2024, with approximately $17.9 billion attributed to red tape. In 2024, CFIB found that the average business spent 735 hours (92 days) on regulation, 256 hours (32 days) of which was spent on red tape.
- The Red Tape Reduction Act focuses on controlling growth through the 1-for-1 rule and only counts certain types of burden (e.g. administrative burden).
- When introducing new regulatory administrative burden, regulators are required to repeal an existing amount of burden. If a new regulation is introduced that imposes burden on business, they must repeal an existing regulation within two years.
- $26 million in annual net administrative burden was removed in the 2023-24 fiscal year; since the 2012-13 fiscal year, annual net burden has been reduced by approximately $82 million.
- 22 more regulations were taken off the books than were added, with a total net reduction of 238 titles since the 2012-13 fiscal year.
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