For the first time ever, the Canadian Federation of Independant Business has not handed out a Golden Scissors Award as part of its Red Tape Awareness Week.

CFIB’s Tyler Slobogian says usually, groups or orders of government are recognized for their efforts to remove operational obstacles for businesses, but the initiatives in 2024 didn’t quite cut it.

“We saw some promising initiatives in 2024, but ultimately didn’t think any of them warranted this official award as we’ve awarded in previous years.”

Slobogian says the withheld award sends a message that governments everywhere need to do better.

However, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was an honourable mention this year for amending food safety regulations to better suit the unique needs of border-city Lloydminster.

“Previously, local businesses have had to follow very complex interprovincial trade rules just to sell food within their own city. This meant extra paperwork, licensing fees and compliance costs.”

He adds that some provinces do better than others when it comes to removing red tape. Saskatchewan received a B minus last year, which he says is due to lack of political priority.