The costs incurred by Canadian entrepreneurs in complying with government regulations are steep, but much lower than their American counterparts, according to a report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

The report released Tuesday notes that government regulations in Canada cost small businesses in Canada $7,310 a year per employee, the same amount they have cost in recent years. In the United States, small and medium-sized businesses cost $11,904 per employee.

According to the CFIB, paperwork costs Canadian companies $11.3 billion and U.S. companies $167.5 billion annually.

Small and medium-sized businesses in Canada are said to spend approximately 677 hours (or 85 working days) per year to comply with government regulations, compared to 889 hours and 111 days in the United States.

Nearly 87% of small business owners in Canada indicated that overregulation “adds significant stress”. In the United States, this percentage is slightly lower (84%).

Furthermore, 63% of Canadian business leaders do not advise their children to start a business due to the current regulatory burden, while 46% of small business leaders in the United States believe the same.

“For two years, small and medium businesses have been crushed by the costs of the restrictions adopted due to COVID-19. However, we have seen, on the other hand, that governments are becoming more flexible at the regulatory level during the pandemic, particularly to help affected businesses and support the recovery. Now They must make this flexibility a rule of thumb. “Reducing red tape is not only synonymous with good governance, but is also an essential measure of economic recovery for all regions of Canada,” said François Vincent, Vice President of the CFIB.