BizPaL Launched in Summerland

SUMMERLAND, British Columbia, March 14, 2008 — Starting and running a business in the District of Summerland 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, 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 Rick Thorpe, Minister of Small Business and Revenue and Minister responsible for Regulatory Reform for British Columbia, and Mayor David Gregory, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in Summerland.

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.

"Starting up and growing a business is not easy," said Secretary of State Ablonczy. "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 a user-friendly, time-saving tool to help cut red tape and reflect our government's commitment to making British Columbia Canada's most small-business-friendly jurisdiction," said Minister Thorpe. "This partnership with the District of Summerland and Industry Canada demonstrates how successful we can be when we all work together."

"This will be a great addition to the services we offer our business community," said Mayor Gregory. "I'd like to thank our council for their support in bringing BizPaL to Summerland."

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

Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.summerland.ca/business/biz_pal.aspx 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
British Columbia Small Business and Revenue
250-387-4193

Scott Boswell
Director of Economic Development
District of Summerland
250-494-6451

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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, Summerland joins a growing list of participating municipalities, including Kamloops, Kelowna, Langley, Nanaimo, Quesnel and Saanich.

BizPaL was a commitment of the Government of Canada in Budget 2006. The development of the BizPaL project involved consultations with stakeholders in business and government.

It grew out of a working group of representatives from federal departments and from provincial, territorial and municipal governments across Canada.

In November 2006, the Government of Canada released Advantage Canada, in which it committed to reducing 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 business must comply, and to achieve a 20-percent reduction of 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.