Since I included some of the highlights of the BizPaL program in one of my commentaries earlier this year, several municipalities in Yorkton-Melville have become partners with the federal and provincial governments to reap the benefits.

BizPaL is an innovative online service designed to help Canadian businesses save time when they gather licence and permit information from multiple levels of government. This partnership between federal, provincial, territorial, regional and municipal governments provides business people with the information they need to start or grow their business. About 90 municipalities across the country have become BizPaL partners. The federal government initiative is spearheaded by Industry Canada and Natural Resources Canada.

We know that dealing with government – and especially several levels at the same time – can put patience to the test. Business people don’t have time to peel back the different layers of the information onion-skin, so BizPaL does it for them. It combines licence and permit information from all levels of government and makes it easy to find. BizPaL is accessible because it is posted on the web sites of each participating jurisdiction, and there are many of them in our area and across Saskatchewan.

You can expect to spend no longer than 10 minutes to answer diagnostic questions that will narrow the results to your specific needs. Clients will be asked about the nature and scope of the current or proposed business. Based upon your answers, you will be provided with a customized list of potential licences and permits from all levels of government that your business could require. You will remain anonymous, you can save or print the results for future reference, and those results will reflect the location and nature of your business. This streamlined process takes much of the pain out of kick-starting a new business and growing an already thriving enterprise.

BizPaL was created to save time and money for entrepreneurs. It provides comprehensive answers for important business requirements by using a simple “Q&A wizard” for your convenience. This service is alive and well in Yorkton-Melville and I hope our entrepreneurs will find it quick, easy and informative. One convenient route to finding the service is to call up the City of Yorkton web site at www.yorkton.ca and click on the BizPaL link. I think you’ll agree that BizPaL demonstrates that different levels of government can work together on your behalf.

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The audio version of Garry's April 28, 2008 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here