Toronto, January 29, 2025 – 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 WeekTM.
Nova Scotia and Ontario follow closely behind Alberta, while Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador both receive failing grades this year.
“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 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.
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.
“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.”
To learn more visit: cfib.ca/redtape.
For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:
Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, CFIB
647-464-2814
public.affairs@cfib.ca
About CFIB
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) is Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 100,000 members across every industry and region. CFIB is dedicated to increasing business owners’ chances of success by driving policy change at all levels of government, providing expert advice and tools, and negotiating exclusive savings. Learn more at cfib.ca.
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