Survey of Regulatory Compliance Costs

Statistics Canada will conduct a survey every three years, measuring the time and money spent by small and medium-sized businesses complying with obligations stemming from federal, provincial/territorial and municipal regulations relating to

• Employees — payroll remittances, records of employment and workers' compensation;
• Taxation — T4 summary, T1/T2 income tax filing, goods and services/harmonized/provincial sales tax, and corporate tax instalments;
• Property taxes;
• Business operating licences and permits;
• Corporate registration; and
• Mandatory Statistics Canada surveys.

In addition to specific questions about each of the above, the survey will include questions about the firm's overall experience with government regulations, as well as business demographics. Information regarding demographics makes it possible to organize respondents under five business size (employment) categories, various industry sectors and different geographic regions (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies and British Columbia). Although all industry sectors will be included in the survey, at least five sectors will be sampled sufficiently to report industry-specific results.

The purpose of the survey is to gather objective and quantitative data on the resources allocated to compliance obligations to better inform government and its stakeholders regarding burden reduction decisions. The data not only improve assessments of the burden, but also help identify priority areas for action, develop benchmarks, and track the results of efforts made to reduce the cost of compliance for small and medium-sized businesses.

The first survey will be distributed to approximately 30 000 businesses this fall. It will provide baseline data from which benchmarks may be established. Results are expected in summer 2006.