A new report has named Kelowna the best city in B.C. to open a small business.

Conducted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business(CFIB), the report analyzed how much “red tape” prospective businesses encountered to determine how hard it is to start a business in 20 municipalities across the province.

To conduct the research, a CFIB 'detective' posed as a member of the local community looking to open a business in order to gauge the helpfulness of municipalities’ responses to small business queries.

Photo Credit: KelownaNow.

Kelowna did exceedingly well, placing first with a score of 86 out of 100, with the City of Delta finishing second with a score of 81 out of 100.

Kelowna received a perfect score for regulatory framework and tied for first place in the quality of information category.

The report praised the city’s Economic Development Commission, which issues grants and provides opportunities for start-ups.

However, there is room for improvement, the report highlighted that Kelowna was the only city in the report without an online or downloadable business license application.

Photo Credit: Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

The rest of the top 10 was rounded out by Langley (74), Surrey (73), Richmond (72), Victoria (72) and Vancouver (70). Placing last out of the 20 communities, with 17 of them being in Metro Vancouver, was Port Moody (42). The CFIB said grades were based on three components: access to information, quality of information and regulatory framework.

The reports grades were based on three components: access to information, quality of information and regulatory framework.

According to CFIB, these three components “get to the heart of how red tape affects business owners every day. Hassles like duplication of process, needless regulations, paperwork and poor customer service are just some of the types of red tape businesses can face. The presence of these factors increases the cost of doing business in a municipality and puts further pressures on small business owners.”

To read the full Municipal Red Tape Detective report, click here.