N.W.T. gets an F for red tape

The Government of the Northwest Territories has received an F grade for the second year in a row for the amount of red tape business needs to overcome to do business in the territory.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released its third annual Red Tape Report Card on Tuesday. It looks at the number of regulations provincial and territorial governments have for companies looking to do business in their jurisdictions.

Tim Doyle, executive director of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, said he was not surprised by the N.W.T.’s grade.

"It’s an area that we’ve been working on intently over the last 12 to 24 months — to talk to the different levels of government — municipal, federal and territorial — and say that we’ve got to come up with a better way that we can streamline the regulations here in this territory," he said.

"We’re falling behind competitively with our neighbours in the other territories as well as the provinces."

Manitoba and Prince Edward Island also received failing grades.

Yukon moved up from an F to a D grade this year. Nunavut was not graded. 

British Columbia took the top mark of A after creating legislation which means the province will create an annual report of its regulations and look for areas to improve. 

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business is a 40-year-old organization which represents 108,000 small business owners across Canada.