In 2001, government promised to reduce regulation by one-third. Through deregulation and regulatory reform efforts, we exceeded our target. To date, we have reduced regulatory requirements in British Columbia by over 42%.

We did this by:

1. Identifying a Minister Responsible for Deregulation.The Minister championed the initiative and reported to colleagues and to the public on government's progress.
   
   
2. Establishing a Regulatory Reform Office responsible for leading the initiative. The office is located in the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue.
   
   
3. Establishing a baseline measure by counting all regulatory requirements contained in provincial legislation and accompanying regulations and policies. A central database that established our baseline starting point to monitor the count.
   
   
4. Reviewing existing legislation by developing and implementing three year plans that set out when each ministry would be reviewing existing regulation. Priority was given to regulation that affected economic competitiveness.
   
   
5. Controlling new regulation by creating a regulatory reform policy [PDF] that sets out criteria that must be used to develop and assess new regulations. Ministers must certify that proposed legislation and regulations have been developed using the criteria and provide rationale for any deviations.
   
   
6. Setting targets and reporting on performance. Targets are set out in annual three-year service plans. The Minister responsible for the initiative reports monthly to Cabinet on government’s progress. Quarterly progress reports are also published.

For more information, check out Our Progress.