BizPaL Launched in North Battleford

NORTH BATTLEFORD, Saskatchewan, February 21, 2008 — Starting and running a business in the City of North Battleford 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 Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, on behalf of the Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Lyle Stewart, Minister of Enterprise and Innovation for Saskatchewan, and Julian Sadlowski, Mayor of North Battleford, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in the City of North Battleford.

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 Government of Canada is working hard with provincial, municipal and territorial governments to provide the best possible service for small businesses," said Minister Ritz. "BizPaL is part of our government's economic plan laid out in Advantage Canada to provide an innovative and entrepreneurial business environment."

"Saskatchewan is enjoying an economic boom that is attracting entrepreneurs who need to spend less time on permits and licenses and have more time to do business," said Minister Stewart. "BizPaL, which is part of our regulatory and service enhancement initiative, will now make it easier to start and run a business here in North Battleford and in more than 30 other communities in our province."

"We are committed to our business community, and this exciting new service will make it easier for entrepreneurs to establish in North Battleford," said Mayor Julian Sadlowski. "BizPaL is an example of how the city will continue to provide innovative and streamlined services for business."

"Streamlining permits and licences for entrepreneurs will reduce the complexity of the approval process and save entrepreneurs' valuable time and money," said Marilyn Braun-Pollon, Vice President, Saskatchewan and Agri-business, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. "We strongly support the implementation of BizPaL in Saskatchewan and congratulate all Saskatchewan communities who have joined the BizPaL service while encouraging communities not yet involved to participate."

The BizPaL service in North Battleford was developed with the support of Industry Canada, in collaboration with the City of North Battleford and the Province of Saskatchewan.

Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.cityofnb.ca/business/bizpal.html or http://www.bizpal.gov.sk.ca. The province is looking forward to expanding BizPaL to other areas of Saskatchewan over the next year.

Visit http://bizpal.ca for additional project history, information and access to the websites of participating partners.

For more information, please contact:

Catherine Godbout
Office of the Honourable Diane Ablonczy
Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)
Tel.: 613-947-5856

Media Relations
Industry Canada
Tel.: 613-943-2502

Joanne Johnson
Director, Public Affairs
Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation
Tel.: 306-787-7967

Denis Lavertu
Director of Business Development
City of North Battleford
Tel.: 306-445-1718
Fax: 306-445-0411
Email: dlavertu@cityofnb.ca

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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 client services.

To date, BizPaL has been launched in more than 70 cities and towns in seven provinces and territories (refer to http://www.bizpal.ca/index_e.shtml for a complete list of participating jurisdictions). Within Saskatchewan, the City of North Battleford joins a growing list of more than 30 cities and towns that offer the service.

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, its long-term economic plan, in which it identified ways to give Canada an entrepreneurial advantage, as well as a 20-percent reduction in paperwork burden. In Budget 2007, the Government of Canada committed to achieving this target by November 2008.