If you’re fuming at Metro Vancouver for making you register your fireplace, rest assured the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is fired up about it, too.

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The CFIB has announced its 2026 Paperweight Awards, highlighting wasteful and costly documentation requirements by Canadian governments. And the unwieldy beast that is Metro made the list.

Last fall, the regional district government that provides infrastructure services to the Lower Mainland such as water, waste management and parks began a registry for anyone with a fireplace or wood-burning stove in their house.

The rationale was to make sure people with fireplaces were using certified appliances and “best-burning practices” — including using manufactured logs in place of real firewood. Residents in the urban containment boundary of the region must register or face fines up to $500, said the CFIB in its award announcement.

Homeowners must provide technical information on any woodstove, such as the make, model and emission rates of the devices. A bylaw also governs what logs they can burn, fire size and even the type of paper used to start a fire.

Never mind that wildfire smoke is usually the biggest culprit when local air quality goes south.

“We’re asking people to help control our emissions,” said Julie Saxton, program manager for air quality regulation with Metro. “We can’t control the smoke that’s coming into the region from wildfires but with the seasonal prohibition we can help reduce the contribution to overall degraded air quality.”

The problem with that rationale is, the ban on fireplace use from May 15 to Sept. 15 has been in place since 2020. The registry has nothing to do with that.

“While intended to improve air quality, the measure adds unnecessary complexity and stress for over 100,000 households and the businesses that service and supply their fireplaces,” says the CFIB.

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“Instead of incentivizing upgrades to cleaner appliances, Metro Vancouver chose a punitive approach that creates confusion and paperwork,” said Kalith Nanayakkara, a CFIB senior policy analyst for B.C. “It’s a heavy-handed approach that creates stress instead of solutions.”

The CFIB suggests a more “constructive” solution: Helping homeowners and businesses with the cost of upgrading to newer, cleaner fireplaces and wood stoves. The business advocacy group is also asking the province to adopt a single, clear set of climate-related regulations.

Other red-tape “honourees” include the Canada Border Services Agency’s rollout of an assessment and revenue management system known as CARM. Designed to simplify duties and tax payments, the CFIB says it “created a confusing, time-consuming portal that disrupts day-to-day operations and adds unnecessary costs for small businesses.”

“At a time of growing trade tensions, the last thing small importers needed was more red tape,” said Michelle Auger of the CFIB.

Quebec’s “broken” Bill 29 also won a red-tape paperweight. It forces retailers in that province to guarantee access to spare parts, repair services and maintenance information for every product they sell — something that’s virtually impossible for small businesses to do with limited control over supply chains.

To learn more, visit cfib.ca/redtape.

With files from Tiffany Crawford

jruttle@postmedia.com