How to Get a Liquor Licence in New Brunswick

Written November 13, 2026

The short answer

In New Brunswick you apply for a licence class under the Liquor Control Act, with the fee for that class paid with the application. The Government of New Brunswick liquor licences page lists each class with its form and fee: dining-room $500, lounge $500 or $1,000 by seats, club $250, special facility $500 or $1,000 by seats, plus a $100 application fee on those four classes. A permanent licence also needs the document package in information guide LIN 0507 — floor plan, fire and health approvals, zoning letter, personal history reports, deed or lease, and training confirmation. Pick the class that matches what the premises will actually do before you pay anything. This guide covers the licensing process only.

One name causes confusion, so clear it at the start. Alcool NB Liquor — ANBL — runs stores and supply. It does not take your licence application. That file goes to the Department of Justice and Public Safety, Gaming Control and Licensing Services, at the Fredericton address in LIN 0507. Mail it to a liquor store and you have mailed it nowhere useful.

Step 1: Pick the licence class that fits the premises

The provincial page describes each class by what happens on the premises. Read your plan against these descriptions, not against the name you use for the business.

• Dining-room licence. For selling liquor in a public place that sells food, such as a bar, restaurant, or pub that sells food. Licence fee $500.
• Lounge licence. For selling liquor in a public place such as a bar or nightclub. Licence fee $500 at 50 seats or less, $1,000 over 50 seats. Persons under 19 may not be on the licensed premises without parental or spousal accompaniment.
• Club licence. For selling liquor in a forces canteen, or in a non-profit organization not operated for the personal benefit of any member or shareholder. Licence fee $250.
• Forces canteen licence. For selling liquor in a mess or canteen run with a component unit of the Canadian Forces, regular or reserve, or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Licence fee $250, on its own application form.
• Special facility licence. For selling liquor in a public place such as a sporting, cultural, or theatrical establishment, a trade and convention centre, hotel or motel complexes, excursion boats, and federal, provincial, or municipal parks. Licence fee $500 at 25 seats or less, $1,000 over 25 seats.
• Wine serving licence. For serving wine supplied by a customer who is 19 or older. The licensee may not hold any other licence under the Liquor Control Act, and no liquor remains on site. Application fee $100.
• Catering licence. For a person who already holds another liquor licence and wants to cater liquor with food outside the licensed establishment. Application fee $200.
• Special event licence. For an event of seven or fewer days where liquor will be served in a public place, including outdoor areas. Application fee $150 per day. Public-event licences of this class must be run without the intention of commercial or personal gain or profit.
• Entertainment or exotic licence. For live entertainment inside an existing liquor licensed establishment. Application fee $100 for live entertainment, $1,000 for exotic entertainment.
• Sacramental wine vendor's licence. For a person who sells wine to the clergy. Licence fee $150.

Manufacturer classes sit apart from premises classes, on a different form and a different logic: volume, not seats. Brewer, distiller, and winery licences each use the Manufacturer of Alcoholic Products Application, priced by the yearly litres in the FAQ above. The UVin/UBrew licence is the odd one out in that group — an establishment lending space and equipment so customers can make wine or beer to drink at home — and it costs a flat $200.

Do not forget the two smaller charges buried at the bottom of the provincial page. A licence extension authorized for a special event costs $200. And the $100 application fee rides on top of the licence fee for dining-room, lounge, club, and special facility licences, every time.

Step 2: Use the right form for the class

Most permanent premises classes use the same starting form on the provincial page: the Licensing Registration Form Permanent Liquor Establishment, with a Personal History Report Form alongside it. That pair covers the lounge, dining-room, special facility, and club classes as the page lists them. The catering class is listed with the Licensing Registration Form alone.

Three classes break from that pair. The wine serving licence has its own Wine Serving Licence Application. The special event licence has its own Special Events Licence Application. The entertainment licence has its own Entertainment Licence Application. The forces canteen licence uses the Application for Club Licence (Forces Canteen). Manufacturer classes — brewer, distiller, winery, and the sacramental wine vendor's licence as listed — use the Manufacturer of Alcoholic Products Application. The UVin/UBrew licence has its own application form.

The form-link rule matters here: file on the form for your class, not on the permanent-establishment form by default. Each form above is linked from the provincial liquor licences page beside its class and fee.

Permits are a separate, smaller track on the same page. A special permit for scientific or professional use costs $50. A special permit for liquor use in food preparation costs $100. A special occasion permit with no sale, for a one-day event such as a wedding or family reunion, costs $50; the resale version costs $100. A trade show permit costs $50 per vendor. None of those permits is a premises licence, and none lets a business sell liquor day to day.

Step 3: Build the permanent-licence package in LIN 0507

For a permanent licence, information guide LIN 0507 gives the requirement list. Treat it as the checklist for your file:

• Floor plan of the premises.
• Inspection and approval by the Fire Marshal's office or a municipal Fire Inspector, stating approved occupancy, with a copy of the report sent to the licensing office.
• Inspection and approval by the Department of Health, with a copy of the report sent to the licensing office.
• Zoning authorization for this type of activity: a letter from your Regional Service Commission, or, for premises in a city, town, or village, contact your municipal office.
• Personal history report forms.
• Copy of the proposed food menu, for a dining-room licence only.
• Copy of the deed or lease agreement.
• Confirmation that you have completed the mandatory training program, or an equivalent from another Canadian province or territory.
• Application fee of $100, and the licence fee for your class: dining-room $500, club $250, lounge $500 or $1,000, special facility $500 or $1,000.

Order the work so the outside approvals come first. Why? Each inspection produces a paper your file cannot close without, and an inspector cannot approve a room that is still a building site. Draw the floor plan before anyone visits. A plan redrawn after the fire visit, to match a wall you moved, no longer matches the occupancy the inspector approved — and the mismatch sits in your own file, in your own handwriting. Inspections against the final plan, copies of both reports in the envelope, then the application. That order. Not the reverse.

Questions go to one office: Gaming Control and Licensing Services, Department of Justice and Public Safety, P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, NB E3B 5H1, telephone (506) 453-7472. LIN 0507 was revised in July 2026. Its four permanent licence fees match the provincial page dollar for dollar, which is why this guide carries them with some confidence — and why you should still glance at the live page on the day you write the cheque.

Step 4: Pay the fee with the application, in the right amount

The provincial page repeats one instruction for class after class: the licensing fee must be received with the initial application. Budget the full amount up front — licence fee plus the $100 application fee where it applies — rather than expecting an invoice after approval.

Seat counts drive two of the fees, so count honestly before you file. A lounge at 50 seats pays $500 and a lounge at 51 seats pays $1,000. A special facility at 25 seats pays $500 and one at 26 seats pays $1,000. The fire approval in your file states approved occupancy, and it should line up with the seat count behind your fee.

Manufacturer fees turn on yearly volume instead of seats. A brewer at or under 500,000 litres per year pays $200, and above that pays $2,500. A distiller at or under 75,000 litres pays $200, and above it pays $2,500. A winery at or under 100,000 litres pays $200, and above it pays $2,500. A brewer also needs a federal licence under the Excise Tax Act (Canada). The provincial licence alone does not finish a manufacturer's paperwork.

What the opened pages do not state

The provincial page and LIN 0507 state the licence classes, forms, document list, and fees above, but neither states a processing time for a new licence, a renewal fee or renewal date, or a fee for transferring a licence to new premises or a new owner, so this guide gives none of those figures. LIN 0507 names the mandatory training program and an out-of-province equivalent, but the pages opened for this guide do not name the program, its provider, or its cost, so this guide does not name one either. Ask Gaming Control and Licensing Services for the current training requirement before you file.

Related guides:

• How to Get a Liquor Licence in Ontario — Ontario's AGCO route, for contrast with New Brunswick's department-issued classes.
• How to Get a Liquor Licence in Nova Scotia — the other Atlantic premises-licence system, side by side with New Brunswick's.
• How to Get a Liquor Licence in Quebec — Quebec's permit classes, for an eastern comparison.
• How to Legally Change Your Name in New Brunswick — another New Brunswick process run through provincial offices and forms.

Sources

• Government of New Brunswick, Liquor licences and permits — every licence class and its description, the lounge fees of $500 and $1,000 by seats and the under-19 accompaniment note, the dining-room fee of $500, the wine serving rule and $100 application fee, the special facility fees of $500 and $1,000 by seats, the club and forces canteen fees of $250, the catering fee of $200, the special event fee of $150 per day and seven-day limit, the entertainment fees of $100 and $1,000, the sacramental wine fee of $150, the brewer, distiller, and winery volume fees of $200 and $2,500 with the federal Excise Tax Act note for brewers, the UVin/UBrew fee of $200, the $200 licence extension, the additional $100 application fee, the form linked to each class, and the special, special occasion, and trade show permit fees.
• Government of New Brunswick, Department of Justice and Public Safety, Information Guide for Licences issued under the Liquor Control Act, LIN 0507 — the permanent-licence requirement list (floor plan, Fire Marshal or municipal Fire Inspector approval with occupancy, Department of Health approval, Regional Service Commission or municipal zoning authorization, personal history reports, food menu for dining-room licences, deed or lease, mandatory training confirmation), the $100 application fee, the dining-room, club, lounge, and special facility licence fees, and the Fredericton contact for Gaming Control and Licensing Services.