NOTRE-DAME-DE-LOURDES, Manitoba, May 29, 2009 — Starting and running a business in the village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes 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, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), on behalf of the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Andrew Swan, Manitoba Minister of Competitiveness, Training and Trade; Denis Bibault, Mayor of the Village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes; and Jean Beaumont, Executive Director of the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in the village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.
BizPaL is an innovative service that provides entrepreneurs with simplified access to the information on permits and licences 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 Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes was developed by the Village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Canada.
“Reducing the paperwork burden makes things easier on small businesses,” said Minister of State Ablonczy. “At a time of global economic uncertainty, we need to do everything we can to help Canadian businesses, especially small businesses, which create so many of our new jobs. BizPaL is a simple, cost-effective way to provide that kind of practical help.”
“The launch of BizPaL in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes is a concrete example of our government's Single Window for Business Initiative, which is working to ensure business information and services are easy to find, easy to understand and easy to use,” said Minister Swan. “I am very pleased that a partnership has been created with the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities and the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities to promote the competitiveness of Manitoba's bilingual communities, which have been key partners in making this launch possible.”
“The Village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes is always looking to encourage economic development within the community, and BizPaL will be a useful tool to encourage entrepreneurs who are looking to start a business or expand their current one. This project will help foster business growth that will directly affect our local economy and keep small communities like ours healthy for years to come,” said Mayor Bibault.
“We are pleased that we were able to help deliver the bilingual BizPaL/PerLE online service to the Village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes,” said Mr. Beaumont. “We are committed to supporting businesses in bilingual communities throughout the province.”
Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting notre-dame-de-lourdes.ca/bizpal_anglais.htm or manitoba.ca/business. The Government of Manitoba is looking forward to expanding BizPaL to other areas of the province over the next year.
Visit bizpal.ca for additional information and access to the websites of participating partners.
For further information (media only), please contact:
Catherine Godbout
Office of the Honourable Diane Ablonczy
Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism)
613-947-5856
Media Relations
Industry Canada
613-943-2502
Joe Czech
Communications Coordinator
Province of Manitoba
204-945-6778
joe.czech@gov.mb.ca
Jean Gaultier
Chief Administrative Officer
Village of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes
204-248-7290
villagend@mts.net
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 expand 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 extend services to more clients.
To date, 11 provinces and territories are participating in BizPaL, with more than 300 municipalities offering the service. Visit bizpal.ca for a complete list of participating jurisdictions. BizPaL is a complementary measure within the government's success in reducing the paperwork burden on small businesses by 20 percent.
The success of BizPaL is due in part to the multi-jurisdictional partnership among federal, provincial, territorial, regional and local governments. The partnership operates under a shared governance and costing model with collaborative decision making. Each jurisdiction is responsible for adding and maintaining its own information in BizPaL.
The Manitoba BizPaL office, located in the Department of Competitiveness, Training and Trade, is charged with engaging local governments to make this important service available across Manitoba. BizPaL represents an integral component of Manitoba's Single Window for Business Initiative that is focused on improving the accessibility of its business information and services, helping to cut red tape. This interactive and smart permit and licence tool is featured at manitoba.ca/business.
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes is pleased to join 18 other municipalities that now offer the BizPaL service in Manitoba. Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes is the first bilingual municipality to launch BizPaL following the announcement of the Bilingual BizPaL Partnership at the Manitoba Association of Bilingual Municipalities (AMBM) and the Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities (CDEM) annual general meeting on October 9, 2008.
