Province of New Brunswick Joins BizPaL

FREDERICTON, New Brunswick, June 25, 2008 — Today, the Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism), on behalf of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Greg Byrne, Minister of Business New Brunswick and Minister responsible for Service New Brunswick, signed a multi-jurisdictional memorandum of understanding (MOU) to bring New Brunswick into the BizPaL initiative.

BizPaL is a new federal-provincial/territorial-municipal online business permit and licence service that saves time spent on paperwork and helps entrepreneurs start up faster.

"I am pleased to welcome New Brunswick as the newest partner in the BizPaL initiative," said Secretary of State Ablonczy. "This service will benefit the province of New Brunswick and participating municipalities by providing easy access to essential information, reducing paperwork costs for business and helping to provide an innovative and entrepreneurial environment."

"The Government of New Brunswick is pleased to partner with the federal government to introduce the BizPaL initiative to businesses in this province and facilitate their interactions with all levels of government," said Minister Byrne. "The signing of this MOU follows our commitment in the Speech from the Throne to introduce a 'one business, one record' system of business services that will make it faster, easier and more convenient for New Brunswickers to do business."

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.

Andreea Bourgeois, New Brunswick's Director of Provincial Affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, praised the initiative as a positive step in the right direction.

"One of the top concerns from our membership here in New Brunswick and across the country is to encourage all levels of government to reduce red tape for small and medium-sized business owners," she said. "With this in mind, we're happy to support BizPaL and look forward to our membership having the opportunity to use it to their advantage."

The Government of New Brunswick is the ninth partner to add its signature to the MOU. The other partners are British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

Service New Brunswick will be administering the BizPaL project on behalf of the Government of New Brunswick. Two local pilots will begin soon in the cities of Fredericton and Edmundston.

New Brunswick is looking forward to working with its eight cities and then with all the other municipalities in the province to offer the BizPaL service. 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

Brent Staeben
Communications
Service New Brunswick
506-444-2207

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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 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.

The Government of New Brunswick is pleased to sign a multi jurisdictional memorandum of understanding (MOU) that includes the Government of Canada and other participating provinces and territories. This MOU marks a critical milestone, as it formally acknowledges a shared vision and investment in the BizPaL initiative to better serve business.

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).

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. 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.

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Backgrounder
Supporting Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

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:

• committed to establishing the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G7
• reduced the small business tax rate to 11 percent and raised the small business income tax instalment threshold to $400 000
• cut the GST to 5 percent and implemented broad based personal income tax cuts
• raised the lifetime capital gains exemption to $750 000 for small business owners, farmers and fishers
• raised the personal income tax instalment threshold to $3000
• introduced the Canada Employment Credit — a $1000 tax credit on employment income to offset work-related expenses
• invested $3 million a year in the BizPaL service across the country — an online time-saving tool that helps entrepreneurs access permit and licence information from multiple levels of government
• instituted a $500 tax deduction for a tradesperson's tools
• increased meal allowance tax exemptions for long-haul truck drivers
• introduced the accelerated capital cost allowance to reduce investment costs
• supported apprenticeships by introducing the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit and the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant programs
• introduced the Cabinet Directive on Streamlining Regulation
• committed to establishing the Major Projects Management Office
• committed to establishing the Paperwork Burden Reduction Initiative for Canadian business, with a plan to reduce the federal paperwork burden by 20 percent
• improved small vendor access to government procurement contracts as committed under the Federal Accountability Act, including:
  • creating six regional OSME (Office of Small and Medium Enterprises) offices across the country
  • committing to ongoing consultations with the supplier community
  • creating a Procurement Auditor to perform an ongoing and independent audit of government procurement
  • developing a Code of Conduct for Procurement
  • conducting an independent review of a new procurement policy
  • ensuring that procurement officers are accredited and trained.