SAANICH, British Columbia, October 5, 2007 -- Starting and running a business in the District of Saanich 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 Murray Coell, British Columbia's Minister of Advanced Education and Minister Responsible for Research and Technology and MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, and Leif Wergeland, City Councillor, on behalf of Frank Leonard, Mayor of Saanich, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in the District of Saanich.
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.
"Canada's New Government is getting things done for businesses and taxpayers by working with cities, provinces and territories to launch the BizPaL service," said Secretary of State Ablonczy. "This service will benefit the Province of British Columbia and the District of Saanich by stimulating economic growth and prosperity for area business."
"BizPaL is a user-friendly, time-saving tool that helps cut red tape dramatically and reflects our government's commitment to making British Columbia Canada's most small-business friendly jurisdiction," said Minister Coell.
"This will be a great addition to the services we offer our business community," said Councillor Wergeland. "As a council member, I am pleased we are bringing BizPaL to Saanich."
The BizPaL service in the District of Saanich was developed with the support of Industry Canada, in collaboration with the District of Saanich and the Province of British Columbia. Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting http://www.saanich.ca/business/bizpal/bizpal.html.
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 and information and to access the websites of participating partners.
For more information, please contact:
Deirdra McCracken
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Jim Prentice
Minister of Industry
613-995-9001
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Catherine Godbout
Office of the Honourable Diane Ablonczy
Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)
613-990-4056
Paul Murray,
Director of Finance
District of Saanich
250-475-5521
Matt Gordon
Communications Director
British Columbia Small Business and Revenue
250-387-4193
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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, BizPaL has been launched in more than 50 cities and towns in six provinces and territories (refer to http://www.bizpal.ca for a complete list of participating jurisdictions). Within the province of British Columbia, Saanich joins a growing list of participating cities, including Kamloops, Kelowna, Langley and Quesnel.
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 Budget 2006. In November 2006, Canada's New Government released Advantage Canada, its long-term economic plan, in which it identified ways to give Canada an entrepreneurial advantage and reduce paperwork burden by 20 percent. Forging ahead, Budget 2007 committed to achieving this target by November 2008.
