Recently I got a job working at an office building in Downtown Toronto. Now I wont say where, purely so you can’t stalk me, but I did. Naturally before I started I had to complete the necessary paperwork, but this job, just like my job at Canadian Tire, simply went to prove the Canadians insane need for piles of paperwork.

Back in Australia when I got my first job at Big W (a department store for those of you who don’t know it - no, it’s not Big Walmart) I also had to go through the steps with the required paperwork. However, that paperwork consisted of signing a contract, filling out an availability sheet and giving my banking information so I could get paid. That was it. Afterwards I had training modules that needed to be done before I started, but for the simple welcome process it was close to nothing at all, 5-minutes work. (I am also not including the interview processes and such) So the Australian method was rather easy.

With THIS job, however, I was sitting there for the better part of an hour filling out all this paperwork. There was an offer letter, a contract, a privacy agreement, my personal details (filled out once on about 3 different forms), a criminal check form, my personal working and schooling history, where I’ve lived in the past 10 years… The list went on and on… It was insane!

Now wait a minute, my job in Australia was a simple department store and this is an office… There’s a bit of a difference there! Well yes, that’s true, but when I worked at Canadian Tire (a Canadian department store, for those out of the loop) there was STILL a mountain of paperwork. We all sat down in a group and it took at least half an hour to fill out all the paperwork. Hundreds of agreements and policies that needed to be signed… I guess Canadian Tire didn’t want to get sued!

And I personally think that’s what it all comes down to - getting sued. From what I know frivolous law suits are just as common here in Canada as they are in the US, hence everyone and everything is trying to cover their butts as much as physically possible. In Australia, while people DO get sued, it is far less prevalent, and hence these businesses don’t NEED this much over-the-top paperwork…

I guess the moral of the story is: Canadians, stop suing each other so it doesn’t take me an hour to fill out some paperwork… please!