At Sherry Gambin-Walsh’s constituency office in Placentia, she and her staff regularly field calls from constituents navigating the often murky waters of establishing a new business, whether it’s a convenience store, agriculture project or food service operation.
A big part of that assistance is helping them chart a course through the red tape.
“It's very frustrating when you don't know how to navigate the system,” explains Gambin-Walsh, also the province’s minister responsible for Service NL.
“It deters people from setting up new businesses.”
In response to that challenge and as a means of continuing to move toward a digital delivery model for government services and information, the province partnered with St. John’s-based Bluedrop Performance Learning earlier this year to develop SkillsPass NL, a series of free e-learning courses aimed at increasing worker employability, workplace productivity and regulatory compliance in the workplace.
The first two sets of courses were launched Monday morning in St. John’s, one for employers and employees in the food service industry and another relating to the tobacco and vapour product retail industries.
“There's some statistics that state that in the next 10 years, depending on which studies you look at, 20 to 50 per cent of all jobs will be severely disrupted,” says
Bluedrop CEO and founder Emad Rizkalla, “so we're in an age now where you have to be constantly learning, and that relates as much to compliance issues and government issues as it does with anything else.”
The food premises courses include Getting off the Ground — assisting prospective business owners in understanding all the legislative requirements required to obtain a licence — and What to Expect When We’re Inspecting — a course for owners and managers of licensed food operations that details the inspection process and criteria.
The tobacco and vapour courses include one aimed at educating employers on laws and regulations pertaining to the product, while another educated employees about their roles and responsibilities in selling the products.
“It's really a visionary thing,” Rizkalla says of the government initiative, one that saw his company receive $5 million to produce the programs as part of a four-year partnership agreement.
“It's saying, ‘we're going to help people to be right and we're going to train them so that when we inspect, we're really in partnership.’”
Six more areas under Service NL’s auspices that will have courses developed by the e-learning company include public swimming pools, electrical installations, building accessibility, private sewage systems, commercial driving and marriage licences.
The company is also working with the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corp. to develop online training related to new cannabis legislation, and is working with other government departments on other training initiatives.
“Once individuals actually go in and do one, they'll realize the value of it,” says Gambin-Walsh. “I did one earlier this week and I quickly realized the value because I'm forever remembering briefing notes on top of briefing notes. Now I can go in here quickly, even as the minister, and it's so much easier to remember.”
It’s far less complex than the actual pieces of legislation, which the minister admits can be a challenge to wade through even when you speak the bureaucratic language.
“I think this is going to be an asset for the economy and for the new business owners and operators and for those that are hiring new employees,” she adds. “It'll help cut down on the red tape, it's an easy way to communicate, it's accessible and you remember it.”
The e-learning courses can be found at serviceNL.myskillspass.io.
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