BizPaL Launched in Nine Municipalities in Manitoba

ROBLIN, Manitoba, November 7, 2008 — Starting and running a business in Parkland Region just became easier thanks to BizPaL, a new online business permit and licence service that saves time spent on paperwork and helps entrepreneurs start up faster.

Today, Inky Mark, Member of Parliament for Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette, on behalf of the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Andrew Swan, the Minister of Competitiveness, Training and Trade of the Province of Manitoba, and His Worship Doug Hazlitt, Mayor of the Town of Roblin, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in the rural municipalities of Dauphin, Ethelbert, Gilbert Plains, Grandview and Hillsburg and the towns of Gilbert Plains, Grandview and Roblin and the Village of Ethelbert.

BizPaL is an innovative project that provides entrepreneurs with simplified access to the information on permits and licences that they need to establish and run their businesses. This unique partnership among federal, provincial, territorial, regional and local governments is designed to cut through the paperwork burden and red tape that small business owners encounter. The BizPaL services being launched in the nine municipalities were developed by the Parkland Agricultural Resource Co-op (PARC), the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Canada.

"I am glad to see BizPaL extended to more communities in Manitoba. It's an example of government making things easier for Canadians," said Mr. Mark. "At a time of global economic uncertainty, we need to do everything we can to help Canadian businesses, especially small businesses, which create so many of our new jobs. BizPaL is a simple, cost-effective way to provide that kind of practical help."

"BizPaL is a concrete example of our government's Single Window for Business Initiative, which is working to ensure business information and services are easy to find, easy to understand and easy to use," said Minister Swan. "I am very pleased that BizPaL has been launched in the nine municipalities in the Parkland area to promote the competitiveness of Manitoba's rural communities."

"The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been a long-time advocate of BizPaL," said Shannon Martin, Director of Provincial Affairs. "We applaud the federal government, the Province of Manitoba and the nine municipalities in the PARC group for embracing BizPaL. This initiative offers important benefits to business and government and is something every municipality should be adopting."

PARC has been working jointly with the province and the federal government to welcome these nine municipalities into the BizPaL family. "BizPaL fits well into our mandate of being committed to regional cooperation and sustainable development by working together on emerging economic opportunities that promote the agricultural and natural resources available in the region,"said Robert Misko, Chairman of PARC. Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting www.parklandmanitoba.ca or http://www.manitoba.ca/business. The Province is looking forward to expanding BizPaL to other areas of Manitoba in the near future.

Visit http://www.bizpal.ca for additional project history, information and access to the websites of participating partners.

For further information (media only), please contact:

Catherine Godbout
Office of the Honourable Diane Ablonczy
Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism)
613-947-5856

Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502

Joe Czech
Communications Coordinator
Communications Services Manitoba
204-945-6778

Marnie Kostur
Parkland Agricultural Resource Co-op
204-546-2915

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Backgrounder
BizPaL Simplifies Permits and Licences for Canadian Businesses

BizPaL is an online service that benefits Canadian businesses by helping them identify which permits and licences they require and how to obtain them. Entrepreneurs simply answer a series of questions on the type of business they want to start or expand and the activities they plan to undertake. BizPaL then automatically generates a list of all required permits and licences from all levels of government, along with basic information on each, and links to government sites where the entrepreneur can learn more and, in some cases, apply online.

BizPaL also benefits governments by making it easier for them to provide accurate information on permits and licences to business. Although the service is offered online, it can also be used through other service channels (i.e., telephone and in-person centres) to improve services to clients.

To date, ten provinces and territories are participating in BizPaL, with more than 150 municipalities offering the service.

The success of BizPaL is due in part to the multi-jurisdictional partnership among the federal, provincial, territorial, regional and local governments. The partnership operates under a shared governance and costing model with collaborative decision making. Each jurisdiction is responsible for adding and maintaining its own information in BizPaL.

Industry Canada is the lead federal department on the BizPaL initiative, supporting the centralized functions of the project. The Government of Canada is fully committed to creating a competitive business environment that supports innovation and reduces red tape. BizPaL is a complementary measure within the Government's commitment to reduce the paperwork burden on small business by 20 percent this year.

Within the Government of Manitoba, the Manitoba BizPaL Office, located in the Department of Competitiveness, Training and Trade, is entrusted with engaging local governments to make this important service available across Manitoba.

The Parkland Agricultural Resource Co-Op (PARC) is a cooperative organization of nine municipalities in the Parkland Region of Manitoba. The communities are focused on developing value-added opportunities for the abundance of raw resources available in the region. The PARC communities form the largest commuter shed and trade corridor in the Parkland Region for accessing reliable skilled labour and for attracting new employees to, and retaining them in, one of the family-friendly communities. These communities are the rural municipalities of Dauphin, Ethelbert, Gilbert Plains, Grandview and Hillsburg, as well as the towns of Gilbert Plains, Grandview and Roblin and the Village of Ethelbert.

In Manitoba, the nine new municipalities join the Rural Municipality of Thompson, the Rural Municipality of Stanley, the City of Brandon, the Town of Morden, the City of Winkler and the City of Winnipeg in offering the BizPaL service. Visit http://www.bizpal.ca for a complete list of participating jurisdictions.

The Province of Manitoba is committed to expanding BizPaL across the province as demonstrated in its 2007 Speech from the Throne and 2008 Budget Speech. BizPaL represents an integral component of Manitoba's Single Window for Business Initiative, which is focused on improving the accessibility of its business information and services, helping to cut red tape. This interactive, smart permit and licence tool is featured at http://www.manitoba.ca/business.