WEYBURN, Saskatchewan, March 5, 2007 - Ed Komarnicki, Member of Parliament for Souris–Moose Mountain, on behalf of the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Industry, today welcomed the launch of BizPaL in the City of Weyburn and the Town of Carlyle. BizPaL is an innovative project designed to help Canadian businesses save time when accessing licensing and permit information from multiple levels of government. This unique partnership between federal, provincial, territorial, regional and local governments provides entrepreneurs and business people in Weyburn and Carlyle with simplified access to the information they need to launch or grow their businesses.
"Canada's New Government is getting things done for businesses and taxpayers by working with cities, provinces and territories to launch the BizPaL program," said Mr. Komarnicki. "This initiative will benefit the Province of Saskatchewan, the City of Weyburn, and the Town of Carlyle by stimulating economic growth and prosperity for area businesses."
"Reducing red tape simplifies regulatory compliance which makes doing business in Saskatchewan more attractive," said Saskatchewan Industry and Resources Minister Eric Cline. said. "BizPaL, which is part of our regulatory and service enhancement initiative, will achieve these goals and sharpen our competitive edge."
"The City of Weyburn prides itself on providing excellent customer service for the residents and businesses in our community," said City of Weyburn Mayor Debra Button. "BizPaL provides our local businesses and new entrepreneurs locating to our city with another tool to make it easier and seamless in establishing a business in our beautiful and prosperous community."
"The Cornerstone Regional Economic Development Authority is pleased to play an integral part in getting the BizPaL initiative in place in the Province of Saskatchewan," said Judy Riddell, Executive Director. "The implementation of BizPaL will greatly assist business development and expansion, saving entrepreneurs time and money through easy access to essential regulations required by all levels of government."
"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, Saskatchewan Director, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. "Weyburn is to be congratulated for providing its business community with this service and we look forward to many other Saskatchewan municipalities adopting the BizPaL service."
The online service generates a customized list of required government permits and licences. The list includes basic information about permits and licences from all levels of government.
The BizPaL system in Weyburn and Carlyle was developed with Industry Canada support, in collaboration with the Province of Saskatchewan. Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.bizpal.gov.sk.ca. The province is looking forward to expanding BizPaL to other areas of Saskatchewan over the next year.
To date, BizPaL has been launched in Saskatoon and Moose Jaw and in various locations in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and the Yukon.
Please visit http://www.bizpal.ca for additional project history and information as well as to access the websites of participating partners.
For more information, please contact:
Isabelle Fontaine
Office of the Honourable Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry
613-995-9001
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Bob Ellis
Director, Public Affairs
Saskatchewan Industry and Resources
Telephone: 306-787-1691
Fax: 306-787-8447
Robert (Bob) Smith
City Manager
Weyburn, Saskatchewan
306-848-3209
Backgrounder
BizPaL Simplifies Permits and Licences for Canadian Businesses
BizPaL is an online project that benefits Canadian businesses by helping them identify which permits and licences are required and how they can be obtained. 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 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, BizPaL has been launched in British Columbia and the City of Kamloops; Manitoba and the Morden-Stanley-Thompson-Winkler Planning District; Ontario and the City of Ottawa, and the Regional Municipality of Halton with the City of Burlington, the Town of Halton Hills and the Town of Milton; Saskatchewan and the cities of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw; and Yukon with the municipalities of Carmacks, Dawson City, Faro, Haines Junction, Mayo, Teslin, Watson Lake and Whitehorse. The City of Brandon has also announced its intention to launch BizPaL.
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, provincial and territorial governments, and municipal governments across Canada.
BizPaL was a commitment of Canada's New Government in the 2006 budget. The government is getting things done for businesses and taxpayers by working with provincial, territorial and local governments to launch the BizPaL program. In November 2006, the government released Advantage Canada, in which it identified ways to give Canada an entrepreneurial advantage and committed to reducing the paperwork burden by 20 percent.
