What is this Service?

Licensing programs, for businesses and taxi services, help protect the health and safety of the public and the integrity of the businesses. Licensing programs seek to enrich businesses by promoting public confidence, assisting with fair competition and ensuring a degree of consumer protection is in place.

Administrative and enforcement staff carry-out key functions such as:

• issuing licenses to businesses that meet the standards set by the by-laws
• ensuring the standards are maintained
• investigating complaints and any non-compliant issues

The numbers and types of businesses which are regulated through a municipal licensing program vary extensively throughout MBNCanada municipalities, as do the methods and approach for carrying out these basic requirements.

Influencing Factors:

• Municipal By-laws:   Administration, inspection and regulation process used and the sophistication of the municipal by-law regulations will differ.
• Policy and Practices:  Cost is dependent on the number of categories of business licenses in the municipality and the number and types of licenses used.
• Processes and Systems:  Type and quality of systems used to track complaints, inspections and other data.