The Ministry of Small Business has shown a commitment to reducing costs and red tape for small businesses in Ontario.
Proposed measures to help small businesses grow and cut red tape, to be introduced this fall, include:
- Reducing regulatory costs: Requiring all ministries to offset every dollar of new administrative costs to business, by removing $1.25 of old and unnecessary costs.
- Streamlining compliance for small business: Ensuring that undue burdens aren’t placed on small businesses when new or amended regulations are introduced, while maintaining robust environmental, health and safety requirements and other public interest protections.
- International or national standards alignment: Increasing harmonization with other jurisdictions and adopting international or national standards, where appropriate, when developing or reviewing regulations.
- Rewarding good actors: Recognizing businesses that have a good compliance record and lowering their costs by reducing the requirements, such as the number of inspections, without compromising the environment health and safety, and other protections.
- Electronic transmission guarantee: Providing businesses the option to electronically submit any required documentation to the Government of Ontario instead of more costly paper submissions.
- Government procurement: Introducing a preferred procurement policy for small businesses that would help provide better access to government contracts.
- One-window service: Developing a new program that would help small businesses access support, information and resources by phone, online and in person.
- Reducing fees and other costs: Reviewing licence and registration fees paid with a goal of providing relief to small- and medium-sized businesses.
These proposed changes support Ontario’s five-year, $650-million Business Growth Initiative that is helping to grow the economy and create jobs by promoting an innovation-based economy, helping small companies scale-up and modernizing regulations for businesses.
We urge all small business owners in our sector to come up with their own input in terms of reducing costs, managing inspections and eliminating red tape in the future. The OCSA intends to actively involved in any consultations with the ministry heading forward.
See more at the provincial government’s official website.
