VERNON, British Columbia, July 10, 2008 — Starting and running a business in the city of Vernon 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, Colin Mayes, Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Shuswap, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Tom Christensen, British Columbia Minister of Children and Family Development and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Okanagan-Vernon, and Wayne Lippert, Mayor of Vernon, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in Vernon.
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 service in Vernon was developed with the support of Industry Canada, in collaboration with the City of Vernon and the Province of British Columbia.
"BizPaL will make it easier for people in Vernon to get the licences and permits they need to start up and grow their business," said Mr. Mayes. "Through our economic plan laid out in Advantage Canada, our government is committed to fostering an innovative and entrepreneurial business environment."
"BizPaL is another way our government is supporting the success of local businesses," said Minister Christensen. "This is occurring, in part, due to our government's commitment to a competitive tax system and reduced regulatory burden on British Columbians."
"We are very pleased to provide local business owners with this important business tool. BizPaL is an excellent guide to any business wishing to set up and establish in our city," said Mayor Lippert. "Vernon takes an active lead in supporting initiatives like BizPaL that help the new business owner access critical business start-up information."
Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.vernon.ca/bizpal or http://www.bcbizpal.ca. The Province is looking forward to expanding BizPaL to other areas of British Columbia over the next year.
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
Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)
613-947-5856
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Dave Crebo
Communications Director
Ministry of Small Business and Revenue
Government of British Columbia
250-387-4193
Liz Williams
Media Liaison Officer
City of Vernon
250-550-3539
lwilliams@vernon.ca
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 operate 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, 9 provinces and territories are participating in BizPaL, with more than 125 municipalities offering the service (visit http://www.bizpal.ca for a complete list of participating jurisdictions). Within the province of British Columbia, Vernon joins a growing list of participating municipalities.
BizPaL was a commitment of the Government of Canada in Budget 2006. It grew out of a working group of representatives from federal departments and from provincial, territorial and municipal governments across Canada. The development of the BizPaL project involved consultations with stakeholders in business and government.
In November 2006, the Government of Canada released Advantage Canada, in which it committed to reducing the paperwork burden on businesses by 20 percent. In Budget 2007, the Government of Canada took further action by requiring key federal regulatory departments and agencies to establish an inventory of administrative requirements and information obligations with which businesses must comply, and to achieve a 20-percent reduction in these requirements and obligations. Budget 2008 reaffirmed this commitment and highlighted the importance of complementary measures that simplify paperwork for businesses but do not reduce the inventory of requirements. BizPaL is key among these complementary measures.
The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of small businesses to Canada's economy and understands the challenges associated with starting up and growing a business.
That is why, since 2006, the Government of Canada has introduced a number of key measures to help small and medium-sized businesses across the country. The government has: