CME calls on Ontario to cut red tape

Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby called on the Ontario government to reduce red tape by $700 million over the next four years.

At a roundtable discussion with Parm Gill, Ontario’s minister of red tape reduction, Darby also saluted the province’s commitment in its recent Fall Economic Statement to streamline government requirements for businesses and the creation of new consultation groups. to help secure long-term investment as the province moves to create an Advanced Manufacturing Strategy.

“Unnecessary, duplicative processes and red tape can plague all critical elements of doing business in Ontario – from hiring, to building a new facility or exporting. It has been refreshing to see the government of Ontario set a specific objective for regulatory burden reduction – $576M over the last four years, and then meet that objective,” Darby said.

To set up the next phase of red tape reduction engagement, CME members discussed three key themes during the roundtable: Labour and human resources; transportation and supply chain; and employment lands and real estate.

“We had a great discussion, and we all know the work is not over. We need to keep challenging ourselves to find reductions, and with the provincial government’s leadership, we can strip away the red tape and get to our goal,” said Darby.

Ontario’s manufacturing sector employs close to 775,000. The sector’s 36,200 firms also directly generate over 12 percent of the province’s GDP and over three-quarters of its merchandise exports. Taking direct and indirect impacts into account, the sector’s footprint amounts to more than 30 per cent of Ontario’s economic activity.