Paperwork – it's the bane of many small businesses.

Filling out forms and dealing with several levels of government and bureaucracy can not only be frustrating, but is also a massive drain on energy, time and productivity.

In an effort to fight unnecessary paperwork, regulations and processes that slow decision making, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business launched the first annual Red Tape Awareness Week, which ran from Jan. 16 to 20 this year.

While the CFIB agrees that certain regulations are imperative, they also believe the bureaucratic burden on small businesses could be reduced by 25 per cent without harming the health and safety of Canadians.

Their goal is to get governments to recognize that red tape burdens small and medium-sized businesses, and it can severely affect their bottom line.

"It's $7 billion per year that is spent just filling out forms for government," said Martine Hebert, Quebec vice-president of the CFIB.

It's frustrating for business owners like Andrew Paquette, who owns Montreal party rental business Bravo Rentals, and has been in the business for 27 years.

"If I want compliance or a permit to do something in Ontario as well as Quebec, I have to fill out two applications," he said. "Small business – it's part of what we have to do."

His biggest frustration? The government's reluctance to use technology to speed up processes and unburden his 20 employees.

"It's 2012 now, they need to become more efficient."

In an effort to improve the situation, the CFIB produced a series of videos called the Red Tape Digital Diaries, sharing stories of exasperated entrepreneurs mired in bureaucracy.

It is also recognizing government ministers and top-level bureaucrats across the country who have trimmed the paper fat by awarding them with a Golden Scissors award.

The inaugural winner was British Columbia Finance Minister Kevin Falcon, who made reforms to the Regulatory Reporting Act that cut red tape for small businesses by 40 per cent.

The federal government has also shown signs of cutting through the tape. A year ago, it committed to reducing irritants to business, asking Canada's auditor general to report on its progress, and implemented a new rule that any new regulation must simply replace old ones, and can not be added to existing ones.

For more on the CFIB's Red Tape Awareness Week, click here.