This week is red tape awareness week for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Jonathan Alward, the director of Manitoba affairs for the CFIB, explained that every small business owner is forced to go through a lot of government red tape, which takes up time from their business. He also said that many people find the government forms confusing, and thatthe  support they can get to fill them out often comes in the form of poor customer service.

Alward added that the Manitoba Government is doing a lot to help small business in the province, having introduced legislation requiring two pieces of red tape to be removed for every new regulation.

The CFIB estimates that red tape costs small businesses in Manitoba over $360M per year.