BizPaL Launched in Surrey

SURREY, British Columbia, March 17, 2008 — Starting and running a business in the City of Surrey 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, Russ Hiebert, Member of Parliament for South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Kevin Falcon, Minister of Transportation for British Columbia and Member of the Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Cloverdale, and Surrey Councillor Linda Hepner, on behalf of Mayor Dianne Watts, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in Surrey.

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 Surrey was developed with the support of Industry Canada, in collaboration with the City of Surrey and the Province of British Columbia.

"Starting up and growing a business is not easy," said Mr. Hiebert. "In addition to supporting BizPaL, with Budget 2008 we are providing a more competitive and productive economy for small businesses in British Columbia. We are easing the tax compliance burden by addressing the record-keeping requirements for automobile expense deductions and taxable benefits, as well as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development tax incentive program."

"BizPaL is consistent with our government's goal of reducing the regulatory burden on small business," said Minister Falcon. "This will give British Columbia's entrepreneurs more time to focus their efforts on growing their small businesses."

"BizPaL provides the City of Surrey with an exciting new opportunity to serve our business community," said Councillor Hepner. "I am confident this program will allow Surrey to continue to build upon its reputation as being a business-friendly city."

Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.surrey.ca/Doing+Business/BizPal/default.htm 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

Joel Giebelhaus
Communications and Policy Advisor
Office of the Mayor
Surrey, British Columbia
604-591-4192

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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 80 municipalities offering the service (visit http://www.bizpal.ca for a complete list of participating jurisdictions). Within the province of British Columbia, Surrey joins a growing list of participating municipalities, including Kamloops, Kelowna, Langley, Quesnel, Nanaimo and Saanich.

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