Cutting paperwork with BC Registries and Online Services

Ministries across the B.C. government are responding to the Digital Plan’s calls to action with new services, products and practices. We’re excited to showcase the teams working to build an inclusive, accessible and connected public service.

In today’s post, BC Registries and Online Services shares the benefits of the new Service BC digital platform.

The status quo

BC Registries and Online Services lets people register and manage their businesses, co-operatives, personal property, manufactured homes and not-for-profit societies online.

Before the launch of the new Service BC digital platform, the journey was not easy. People were forced to visit service locations in person, or navigate several pathways to digital services that all looked and worked differently. They had to manage multiple login IDs and passwords and often submit paper forms. The processes were confusing and took a long time, and people would often need assistance from a third party before their paper forms could start being processed.

A new platform

The BC Registries and Online Services team set out to update the systems underpinning these services. The new platform would provide easy self-serve access to many government products and services for people in B.C, while improving and expanding services used by other government agencies and organizations outside government. They performed user research to understand how people use services, guiding development to create a consistent user-centred experience across the entire Service BC digital platform.

The team further improved the system by integrating government’s private cloud platform and common components such as PayBC and the BC Services Card. As a result, their new digital services are even faster and easier for people to use. A permanent digital team was created to maintain and update these services, ensuring they will remain reliable and responsive to changing needs.

User impact: Kim’s story

The team shares an example scenario to illustrate how the new system can improve the government experience for people in B.C.

Kim started landscaping in B.C. at an early age with her parents, then decided to venture off to start her own landscaping business. Although excited, Kim didn’t know where to begin!

The first step? Type into Google: “How to start a business in B.C.” Search results included a small-business guide and the new digital platform. She was already familiar with how to log in using her BC Services Card, because this was the same way she registered for vaccines. Setting up her government account was designed to be familiar, aligning with other experiences she’d had creating her Gmail and Netflix accounts.

Kim was thrilled that she could access so many government services in one place, from registering her landscaping business and getting her new business name, to checking for a lien on a new landscaping truck or accessing services like registration of court documents. She was empowered to complete what she needed on her own, without the additional cost of a third-party or the need to print and mail in a paper form.

Because the application was built for people in B.C. based on user testing, Kim found the application simple to use and the experience intuitive. A consistent user interface across the entire Service BC digital platform meant that she didn’t have to re-learn the process each time she needed to do something new.

Benefits for all with connected services

Connected services like the new Service BC digital platform enable people like Kim to meet their goals online with minimum frustration. On the back end, the same improvements make processes smoother and more efficient for public service employees, reducing their time spent completing internal tasks and helping people get unstuck.

The result is a better experience for all, and a more connected public service for the digital era.