BizPaL Launched in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba

April 17, 2009

PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE, Manitoba, April 17, 2009 — Starting and running a business in the city of Portage la Prairie 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, Candice Hoeppner, Member of Parliament for Portage–Lisgar, on behalf of the Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, together with the Honourable Andrew Swan, Manitoba Minister of Competitiveness, Training and Trade, and Ken Brennan, Mayor of Portage la Prairie, welcomed the launch of BizPaL in Portage la Prairie.

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 Portage la Prairie was developed by the City of Portage la Prairie, the Province of Manitoba and the Government of Canada.

“Reducing the paperwork burden makes things easier on small businesses,” said Ms. Hoeppner. “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.”

“I am very pleased that BizPaL has been launched in the city of Portage la Prairie to promote the competitiveness of the community in attracting and growing businesses,” said Minister Swan. “BizPaL is a concrete example of our government's Single Window for Business Initiative, which is working to ensure that business information and services are easy to find, easy to understand and easy to use.”

“We are looking forward to introducing BizPaL as part of our economic development portfolio and using this significant tool to increase our business development efforts,” said Mayor Brennan. “As it has done in other communities, BizPaL will make doing business in Portage la Prairie easier.”

“BizPaL is an initiative designed to reduce the regulatory burden for new and expanding businesses, something the Canadian Federation of Independent Business strongly supports,” said Shannon Martin, Director of Provincial Affairs. “The Province of Manitoba has been aggressively working with municipalities to expand the program, and Portage la Prairie's involvement is a welcome announcement.”

Area business owners and entrepreneurs can access the service by visiting city.portage-la-prairie.mb.ca/bizpal.asp or manitoba.ca/business. 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.