Alberta Innovates Red Tape Reduction Efforts Applauded by Associate Minister

Alberta Innovates Red Tape Reduction Efforts Applauded by Associate Minister

Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser

Tanya Fir, Associate Minister of Red Tape Reduction, was in Vegreville on Aug. 10 to personally commend Alberta Innovates for removing almost 60 percent of “unnecessary” regulatory requirements to support businesses and entrepreneurs.

Alberta Innovates Chief Operating Officer Steve McMahon stood near the podium as Associate Minister Fir discussed initiatives that were completed by the Job, Economy and Innovation Ministry and Alberta Innovates as well as the regulatory requirement that had been cleared to support job creation, innovation and modernization in the sector.

Also on hand for the announcement was Town of Vegreville Chief Administrative Officer Christopher Leggett, Mayor Tim MacPhee, and Councillors Taneen Rudyk, Jerrold Lemko and Len Bullock.

“By reducing almost 60 percent of the red tape at Alberta Innovates, it shows that with the ideas and feedback received from Albertans and Alberta businesses, we have been able to deliver significant and meaningful red tape reductions.

Many of these changes have resulted in tangible benefits that put industry innovators in both core and emerging sectors in a better position to succeed, which is critical to Alberta’s long-term economic growth and diversification,” stated Fir.

Jan Slaski and Tanya Fir.

(Michelle Pinon/Photo)

Alberta Innovates is a provincially funded corporation that provides funding and other supports and services to stimulate and grow research and innovation in Alberta.

“Recognizing that emerging sectors are critical to Alberta’s economic growth and diversification, the organization has simplified its grant applications and reporting requirement to enable easier access to more than $150 million in annual funding for the innovation sector,” said Fir.

Deanne Langlois, Executive Director, Corporate Planning and Reporting for Alberta Innovates, stated that, “As the primary delivery agency for research and innovation programs in Alberta, our efforts to reduce red tape and streamline our clients’ experience results in quicker access to economic growth opportunities.

In 2020, Alberta Innovates standardized its applications forms across the majority of its programs to make them more userfriendly by simplifying and eliminating non-essential questions, and applying this suite of standardized application questions to the majority of Alberta Innovates programs. The new forms are easier for clients to use and provides a more stream-

lined application experience and significant benefits relative to the legacy system and processes.

Hemp plants.

(Michelle Pinon/Photo)

As of June 2022, Alberta Innovates achieved a nearly 60 percent reduction in its red tape count relative to its baseline at the start of the Red Tape Reduction initiative primarily through these standardization efforts.

Another key improvement was the implementation of an enterprise grants management system in April 2020 that improves the user-friendliness and transparency of the grant process for Alberta Innovates clients. The system also enables applicants to apply to multiple programs while leveraging information they had previously saved in our enterprise grant management system. Ninety-four percent of clients report having a positive application experience with Alberta Innovates.

These initiatives at Alberta Innovates have cut the administrative burden for the innovation sector - enabling easier access to nearly $160 million in budgeted funding in 2022-23 through our research, innovation and commercialization programs and services - while allowing Alberta entrepreneurs and researchers to spend less time on paperwork and more time on developing innovative solutions that can drive economic growth and recovery.

Our ongoing efforts in reducing red tape for our clients are currently focused on standardizing reports required by clients who are receiving grant funding from Alberta Innovates. This will further reduce red tape for our clients and increase the familiarity and consistency of their experience across our programs.”