British Columbia continues to be the leader in regulatory reform. Other jurisdictions have sought input from British Columbia as they start their own regulatory reform initiatives.

With less red tape, small business owners have more time to focus on growing their enterprises and creating jobs, making British Columbia Canada's leader in small business growth and small business job growth. Based on the recommendation of the Small Business Roundtable, the province has implemented the small business lens as part of the regulatory criteria checklist as a tool to assess new legislation or regulations from a small business perspective. Ministries proposing new legislation or regulations must use this checklist with the small business lens to confirm their changes are streamlined and clear, competitive relative to other jurisdictions, worth any increased cost to business, and necessary to protect health, safety, the environment, or other important public policy goals.

Between June 2001 and June 2004 we reduced regulatory requirements by 37.6 per cent overall. We are committed to maintaining a zero net increase through 2012. As of March 31, 2008 we are currently exceeding that target by 8.02 per cent.

Through the Regulatory Reform Initiative, we will continue to streamline, and simplify our regulatory system while preserving regulations that protect public health, safety, and the environment.