Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters: Canada Caught Up in Crisis of Red Tape

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) is calling on the federal government to establish a dedicated “Minister of Regulation and Red Tape Reduction” to ensure significant regulatory reform is enacted to lift the economy out of its productivity slump.

This is just one of several key recommendations in the CME’s latest report, Regulate Better, Grow Faster, which outlines specific measures the federal and provincial governments can take to tackle the growing complexity and volume of regulations hampering investment, productivity, and job creation in Canada’s manufacturing sector.

Based on a survey of over 320 manufacturers from across Canada, the report reveals troubling insights about the state of Canada’s regulatory environment, including:

• Canada’s regulatory problems are getting worse: 71 per cent of manufacturers said federal regulations have become more burdensome over the last three years, with 62 per cent reporting the same for provincial regulations.
• Red tape is impeding business investment that would improve manufacturing productivity: 77 per cent of manufacturers indicated that if regulatory compliance costs were reduced, they would reallocate the savings to capital improvements such as plant expansions, facility upgrades, and new equipment.

“Our survey clearly shows that regulatory burden is a significant obstacle to growth for Canadian manufacturers. If left unaddressed, it will continue to hold back productivity and economic progress,” said Dennis Darby, President & CEO of CME. “The unencumbered expansion of red tape is undermining other government support for manufacturing and forcing manufacturers to divert resources to compliance rather than investing in innovation and expansion.”

Regulate Better, Grow Faster, provides a roadmap for the federal government to reduce regulatory burden and drive manufacturing and economic growth. In addition to establishing a new federal minister to hold regulators accountable and guarantee regulations are both effective and economically sound, the CME wants government to:

• Assign economic mandates to all regulators – The federal government should adopt an approach similar to the U.K. Growth Duty and make economic growth a core component of all regulatory mandates. This would ensure that business investment, productivity, and innovation are considered alongside other regulatory responsibilities, embedding economic growth into the regulatory framework.
• Create a Regulatory Credibility Committee – An independent body of experts should be created to review the evidence and analysis in regulatory proposals, advising the government on whether the estimated economic impacts of new regulations are evidence-based and aligned with the government’s economic objectives.

“Canada cannot afford to continue on its current path,” Darby emphasized. “To attract investment, create jobs, and build a more competitive manufacturing sector, governments must act decisively to regulate better and cut the red tape that is choking our economic potential.”

For a full copy of Regulate Better, Grow Faster visit https://cme-mec.ca/initiatives/regulate-better-grow-faster-report/

Source: CM&E