BizPaL Program Funding Extended as BizPaL Launches in West Vancouver, British Columbia

WEST VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 22, 2008 — Today, the Government of Canada, the Government of British Columbia and the District of West Vancouver celebrated the launch of BizPaL in West Vancouver and the extension of funding for the BizPaL initiative by $3 million annually until March 31, 2011.

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 encountered by small business owners.

The BizPaL service in West Vancouver was developed with the support of Industry Canada, in collaboration with the District of West Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia.

"The Government of Canada is pleased to welcome West Vancouver to the BizPaL program as we extend BizPaL program funding to March 31, 2011," said the Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism). "This funding will allow us to increase the number of communities with access to BizPaL and strengthen our support of small businesses in Canada."

"BizPaL is consistent with our government's goal of cutting the red tape burden on small businesses," said Ralph Sultan, Member of the Legislative Assembly for West Vancouver-Capilano. "Entrepreneurs will have more time to focus on growing their businesses."

"BizPaL provides the District of West Vancouver with an exciting new opportunity to serve our business community," said Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, Mayor of West Vancouver. "I'd like to thank council for their support, and provincial and municipal staff for implementing BizPaL in West Vancouver."

Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.westvancouver.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 Holitzki
Manager, Bylaw & Licence Services
City of West Vancouver
604-925-7153

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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.

To date, eight provinces and territories are participating in BizPaL, with more than 90 municipalities offering the service (visit http://www.bizpal.ca for a complete list of participating jurisdictions). Within the province of British Columbia, West Vancouver 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 paper 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 business must comply, and to achieve a 20-percent reduction in these requirements and obligations by November 2008. 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