Diane Ablonczy, secretary of state for small business, says measures are already being implemented as a result of two reports by a 14-member advisory committee.
The panel, composed of small-business owners, business groups and government, was formed in February 2005 to "reduce, rationalize and simplify (federal) regulatory requirements."
Ablonczy says 13 departments and agencies have begun implementing measures to reduce the legislative and regulatory burdens on small business.
She says they're streamlining regulations, eliminating duplicate requirements, shedding overlapping obligations and reducing the frequency requirements on filing documentation.
Specific measures include reducing the documentation needed to back claims for business-related driving and identifying businesses by number to streamline claims and information exchange.
The government is also scaling back passport renewals to 10 years instead of five.
Ablonczy says combined with reducing the goods-and-services tax by two points to five per cent and accelerating a reduction in the small-business tax rate, the measures to reduce paperwork will boost initiative and the prospects for operators.
The committee's co-chair, Laura Jones of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, says red tape is a $33-billion-a-year hidden tax.
She says the measures hold great promise for small business and could establish Canada as a leader in "effective, efficient, accountable regulation."
