Delta council has agreed to add home health care professionals and services to the Metro West Inter-Municipal Business Licence program (IMBL).
Launched in 2013 and made permanent in 2015, the IMBL program is designed to facilitate business operations across Delta, Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Richmond and Surrey.
Under the IMBL, businesses obtain a licence in their home municipality and, for an additional fee, receive the IMBL for all participating municipalities.
It’s aimed at reducing administrative burdens and costs associated with operating in multiple municipalities.
A Delta report notes consumers can benefit from increased choice as businesses expand services across participating municipalities.
Uptake of the IMBL has been steady, the report notes, adding that since 2015, the annual number issued has increased seventeen-fold.
In 2023 a total of 6,817 IMBLs were issued by participating municipalities with 634 issued by Delta. Until recently, the IMBL was limited to construction and trades-related businesses.
In October 2024, Vancouver became the first municipality in the Lower Mainland to approve an expansion to the IMB to include in-home health care professionals and services.
The Delta report also notes that businesses that provide home healthcare and other in-home support services are good candidates to join as those support services are vital to some residents, and will be increasingly important as the population ages.
The City of Delta currently issues about 30 business licences each year to businesses whose core work is to provide in-home health care and nursing services.
In addition, the city issues about 400 licences annually to health care businesses that could provide in-home services as part of their business, including midwifery, registered massage therapy, fitness training, and counselling services, among others.
Many of the business already serve clients in multiple Metro Vancouver municipalities, providing services that include in-home medical care, transportation, companionship and home making.
“Staff met with the BC Care Providers Association and with business owners. Staff heard unanimous support for the proposal to include businesses that provide in-home health care and related services in the Metro West IMBL program. Staff heard that the reduced administrative and cost burdens will be welcome for businesses that already operate in two or more municipalities; may encourage and enable able businesses to expand their service areas; and can benefit clients who may see increased service options,” the report states.
Delta council also approved an increase in the licence fee, as well as recently agreeing that the Village of Harrison Hot Springs can join the network.
