BC – The Province has taken significant action to modernize British Columbia’s regulatory regime, streamline processes and enhance access to services, according to the fifth annual report on regulatory reform released by Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction and Minister Responsible for the Liquor Distribution Branch Coralee Oakes.
The report, Achieving a Modern Regulatory Environment: B.C.’s Regulatory Reform Initiative, highlights government’s progress to reduce red tape for British Columbians over the past year and reinforces the Province’s commitment to efficient regulations and processes that reduce the burden on citizens and businesses and support economic growth.
Highlights from the report include:
- Implementation of more than half of the 73 recommendations from the liquor policy review to improve consumer convenience, such as removing the need for a separate lounge area for manufacturer licensees.
- Making traffic event and webcam data available to the public with the open government license, which enhances borderless traveller information with other jurisdictions and provides entrepreneurs and software engineers access to data that can improve apps and services available to the public.
- Improving online services for British Columbians, such as an enhanced map that helps parents find child care in their communities and the new Aging Well website that helps seniors access essential health programs and services.
- Creating the small business resources hand-out to increase new business owners’ awareness of the supports available to help them succeed. Available through the OneStop Business Registry, more than 13,000 new businesses have received the information.
In addition to maintaining its net-zero increase commitment, the Province eliminated more than 500 unnecessary or outdated requirements last year, a 47% reduction in regulatory requirements since 2001. For example, the Province replaced the need for sworn statements with a simple signed statement in more than 20 instances.
