By Timothy Halman, Nova Scotia’s Minister of Service Efficiency
For a small business, time matters. It is the difference between opening the doors or waiting, hiring someone or holding back, seizing an opportunity or watching it pass.
Small businesses create jobs, bring new ideas to market and help communities across Nova Scotia thrive. During Small Business Week, we celebrate the people behind them – and recognize the government’s responsibility to make every hour they invest count.
That responsibility has never been more important. At a time of global uncertainty and changing trade relationships, Nova Scotia must be more self-reliant, competitive and attractive to businesses ready to invest and grow.
Red tape can stand in the way. It slows decisions, adds costs and makes government harder to navigate. For a small business, those delays can mean waiting longer to open, hire or expand.
Our approach to reducing red tape is twofold: helping businesses navigate government today, while making government faster and easier to navigate for the future.
Nova Scotia’s business navigators help clients understand registrations, permits, licences and government programs, and connect them with the right supports for their needs. They also help businesses respond to today’s challenges, including U.S. tariffs.
To date, the service has supported more than 20,000 businesses and entrepreneurs across the province, saving each client an average of 10 hours. That is time they can spend hiring sooner, serving customers faster and growing their businesses – not waiting on the phone, searching for the right person or tracking down the right form.
At the same time, we are committed to reducing barriers and making government faster and more responsive to the needs of business.
We are already seeing results. Through the Fewer Permits. Faster initiative, we have improved more than half of all provincial permits, with more to come – helping businesses get clearer answers and make decisions sooner.
That same focus is driving broader reform. The Making Business Easier Act is helping accelerate responsible natural resource development by cutting red tape, not corners. And the Service Efficiency Act has clarified responsibilities, updated outdated provisions and reduced unnecessary complexity across government.
That progress has been recognized by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, reflecting Nova Scotia’s continued focus on reducing red tape and making government work better for business.
Still, businesses continue to encounter delays and unnecessary complexity, and there is more work to do.
We will keep listening to businesses, partners, communities and Nova Scotians – and finding practical ways to make government work better for them.
Cutting red tape does not mean cutting corners. It means clearing away what is unnecessary so businesses can move faster, invest with confidence and grow our economy while maintaining the protections Nova Scotians expect.
Small businesses are ready to build Nova Scotia’s future. The government must be ready to keep pace.
