Maple Ridge ranks 11th out of 20, when it comes to being business friendly and cutting through bureaucratic rules so new shops and operations can open their doors.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses evaluated 20 cities in B.C. by posing as secret shoppers trying to set up a business in each city. The responses from each city in providing access to information, quality of information and city regulations were then graded.
“Hassles like duplication of processes, needless regulations, nonsensical paperwork, and poor customer service are just some of the types of red tape business owners can face, said Muriel Protzer in a release.
“The presence of these factors increase the cost of doing business in a municipality and put further pressures on the hard-working small business community.”
Too many barriers can lead businesses, and their jobs, to go elsewhere, she added.
The federation is making bureaucratic red tape an issue in this October’s city elections in B.C.
Maple Ridge, with a score of 67 out of 100, was tied with the District of North Vancouver for the 11th spot. Kelowna came out in top spot as being most business friendly, follwed by Delta, Langley city, Victoria, Coquitlam, Prince George, Langley township, Surrey, Richmond and Vancouver, with Maple Ridge claiming 11th spot.
Maple Ridge however, recently was recognized by the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators for its new web portal that provides information access to residents.
Pitt Meadows, with a score of 61 out of 100, ranked 13th in the federation report, along with North Vancouver city, followed by Burnaby, West Vancouver, White, Rock, Port Coquitlam, New Westminster and Port Moody.
