When taking care of business, no one likes to get tied up filling out lengthy forms and dealing with unnecessary red tape.
Budget 2007 included the Paperwork Burden Reduction initiative, a commitment from the Harper government to reduce the paperwork burden by 20 percent.

This goal was realized by March 2009 through the elimination of almost 80,000 regulatory requirements and information obligations. This process involved streamlining regulations, reducing information requirements and eliminating obligations that overlap or produce results duplicated by another regulation.

In addition, Canada Border Services Agency is in the process of eliminating over 1,600 information requirements and administrative demands that are obsolete and non-essential, yet continue to be imposed upon businesses and individuals.This would result in a 20 percent reduction in red tape for that organization alone.

Computers and the Internet have dramatically reduced the need for paperwork over the last few decades. As documents and information continue to be used in digital form, information will become easier to organize and find, reducing the need for red tape.

Eliminating unnecessary red tape will save time and money for Canadians and the officials who must sort through this information, as well as have a positive impact on the environment by eliminating a significant amount of paper waste.

Service Canada offers the Record of Employment on the Web to assist businesses in keeping complete and accurate records in a hassle-free way with minimal impact on the government.

With the service, employers can submit over 1,200 electronic records at once and import them into a payroll system for easy reference and record-keeping, saving time.

Interactive functions and help and feedback mechanisms also provide support to ensure forms are filled out correctly the first time, reducing the administrative burden of having to complete paperwork a second time because of a mistake, misunderstanding, or omission.

Small businesses will also benefit from Revenue Canada’s move to reduce the frequency of required tax filings and remittances.

Keeping complete and accurate records is important, but no one likes to be burdened by frequent, repetitive forms. This is why we’re working to develop an effective system that organizes the information we need without all the red tape.

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The audio version of Garry's March 7, 2011 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here