City of Kelowna rolls out changes to website as part of plan to move services online

The City has rolled out a series of new online tools as part of its ambition to “transform” the delivery of its services.

It wants to reduce the need for trips to a City building by making more services accessible online.

“We know Kelowna residents are passionate about this city and take pride in their communities,” said Jazz Pabla, director of the Information Services Department.

“This inspires us to examine the way we provide services and make improvements that will increase customer satisfaction and reduce barriers to accessing City services or letting us know about issues that need addressing.”

Recent changes to the website include the addition of new action buttons encouraging residents to “Apply,” “Pay,” “Report/Request” or “Explore.”

That’s part of a simplification process to make accessing services easier for residents, the City said.

Another change is to building permit applications – which can now be accessed, completed, submitted and paid for online.

“This is one more step in an ongoing journey to make it easier and more convenient to do business with the City,” said Ryan Smith, divisional director of planning and development services.

“The COVID-19 pandemic makes these types of initiatives all the more important as we adhere to physical distancing recommendations for safety, but also ensure that residents and developers can move forward as efficiently as possible with their important projects.”

For more, visit kelowna.ca.