BC Registries & Online Services
Pioneering Corporate Transparency: BC's Beneficial Ownership Registry
When BC introduced new corporate ownership transparency legislation, there was no existing system, no predefined process, and no blueprint to follow. BC Registries engaged Forge to translate complex new law into a functional digital registry - building from scratch a system that businesses, legal professionals, and government regulators could all use effectively. The registry was a direct response to the Cullen Commission's recommendations on money laundering - BC's Expert Panel identified beneficial ownership disclosure as the single most important measure to combat financial crime in the province.
Impact & Outcomes
Compliance time reduced by approximately 70% through streamlined reporting workflows. Delivered a centralized beneficial ownership registry - described as one of the most advanced business search systems in Canada. Contract value: $875K. Established a scalable platform capable of adapting to future legislative changes without full system rebuilds.
Challenge
New transparency legislation required businesses to disclose beneficial ownership information - but there was no existing framework for how to do this digitally. Regulatory non-compliance risks, administrative complexity, privacy concerns, and data integrity challenges all had to be resolved simultaneously. Multiple government departments had conflicting interpretations of the legislation, and the system had to balance strict compliance requirements with a usable experience for businesses that had never reported this way before.
Approach
Forge led policy-to-design translation workshops where policymakers and service designers mapped complex legal obligations into structured digital workflows. End-user research with business owners, legal professionals, and compliance officers validated design decisions before development. An Agile framework allowed features to be delivered and tested iteratively. Security and privacy protocols were built in from the start. Forge designed the platform as a scalable, cloud-based system so future legislative changes could be incorporated without rebuilding.
Delivery
A centralized registry where businesses can submit, update, and manage beneficial ownership records through purpose-built compliance workflows. Automated validation reduced reporting errors. Onboarding resources supported adoption by both businesses and government enforcement agencies. The platform established a new benchmark for regulatory service delivery in BC - converting abstract policy into a functional digital process that works for both government and the regulated community.
