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Farmers continue to bear the brunt of red tape
Jan. 21, 2016, Toronto, ON - Government rules and paperwork continue to hit farmers even harder than other small business owners, according to survey data released today by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), on day four of Red Tape Awareness Week.
A national survey of small business owners shows that three in four (76 per cent) farmers identify government regulation and paperburden as a serious concern for their business, while 69 per cent of businesses in other sectors cite red tape as an issue. This marks the fifth consecutive year that farmers' red tape frustrations have outpaced that of the general small business community in Canada.
"For all the photo-ops and campaign commitments made at the farm, Canada's farmers have seen little relief from the burden of costly government rules and paperwork," said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, CFIB's vice-president for Agri-business. "It's frustrating that Statistics Canada continues to insist farmers fill out the survey right in the middle of their busiest time of the year – spring seeding. But we were pleased to hear the federal government announce this week that they will be making the 2016 Census of Agriculture more accessible by moving it online."
Farmers list an alphabet soup of regulations and agencies that are costing them time and money, including:
- Canada Revenue Agency
- Canada Border Services Agency
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
- Statistics Canada
- Land use restrictions and by-laws
- Product labelling
"Farmers are looking to expand their operations and implement innovative technologies and practices that allow them to continue growing high quality food for all Canadians," added Mandy D'Autremont, CFIB's senior policy analyst for Agri-business. "We need to ensure that the sector isn't held back by out-dated, redundant and confusing regulations."
CFIB looks forward to working with new federal Minister of Agriculture and Agri-food, Lawrence MacAulay, and discussing ways to build on the positive step they took this week.
For more details regarding the results of the surveys, visit www.cfib.ca.
January 21, 2016 By News release
