How to Start a Bakery in Vancouver
Start a bakery in Vancouver: check zoning first, get FOODSAFE Level 1, win Vancouver Coastal Health approval for the floor plan before you build, then apply for the City business licence.
How to Start a Catering Business in Vancouver
A Vancouver caterer needs a City of Vancouver business licence in the Caterer class and a Vancouver Coastal Health annual food service permit for the kitchen. VCH must approve the floor plan before construction, and the owner or operator must hold FOODSAFE Level 1.
Applies in: British Columbia
The short answer
A Vancouver catering business is licensed twice: once for the business and once for the kitchen. The City of Vancouver requires a business licence for any organization doing business in or from Vancouver, and caterers sit in their own licence class. Vancouver Coastal Health requires every operator of a food service establishment, caterers included, to hold a valid annual permit for the premises where food is prepared. The health side decides where you can cook. The city side decides whether the business at that address is licensed. Neither approval substitutes for the other.
Written November 13, 2026
The health permit: Vancouver Coastal Health
VCH is the health authority for Vancouver. Its food service permits page states the rule plainly: every operator of a food service establishment must have a valid annual permit, and the list of food service establishments includes restaurants, take-outs, caterers, and mobile food service providers. For a caterer, the permitted premises are the commissary or commercial kitchen where the food is cooked, not the hall or home where it is served.
The approval runs in a set order:
- Floor plan review. Floor plans must be reviewed and approved by VCH prior to the beginning of construction. This applies to premises that are new, under renovation, or needing alterations to be brought up to current VCH requirements. Do not fit out a kitchen and then ask for approval of what you built.
- Application form. Submit a Food Service Permit Application Form. Food service establishments are facilities where foods are processed, such as cooking, reheating, or freezing, and intended for immediate consumption. Permit fees are processed at the time of approval.
- Supporting documents. Provide a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation if the premises are corporately owned, a menu listing the items with ingredients and processes for the foods and beverages being prepared, packaged, and served, and your food safety plan and sanitation plan, both submitted for review.
- FOODSAFE Level 1. Every owner or operator must hold a valid FOODSAFE Level 1 Certificate or its equivalent. When the owner or operator is away, at least one employee must hold this certification.
- Inspection. An Environmental Health Officer conducts an on-site inspection to assess whether construction was completed according to the approved floor plan and whether the premises comply with food safety and sanitation standards. The inspection can cover food storage, temperature control, cleanliness of food contact surfaces and equipment, hand washing facilities, waste management, and pest control measures.
The permit is annual and it is personal to the operator and the premises. It is not transferable to a new owner, and it is not transferable to a temporary event, so an event booking does not extend your permit to a second kitchen.
The city licence: Caterer class
The city's business licence page states that any organization doing business in or from Vancouver must have a business licence. The business licence general application asks you to describe the nature of the business and the intended use of the premise in detail, and it splits locations into commercial or industrial premises and home-based or residential premises, with a separate set of conditions for home-based locations.
The application requires a $77 non-refundable application fee, with an additional pro-rated licence fee payable on approval under Schedule A of Licence By-law No. 4450. The 2026 schedule, in the by-law amending the licence fees for 2026, lists the Caterer licence at $533 for the year. All licence fees in that schedule are payable annually unless otherwise specified.
Every Vancouver business licence expires on December 31 every year. Renewal can be done online, in person, or by mail. The Licence Office is at the Development and Building Services Centre, ground floor, 515 West 10th Avenue, by appointment, with a mailing address of Revenue Services, PO Box 7878, Vancouver, BC V6B 4E2. Because the expiry is a calendar date rather than your opening anniversary, a business licensed late in the year renews almost immediately.
Catering-specific pressure points
The kitchen is the business address. Both systems attach to the premises where food is prepared. If you rent time in a shared commercial kitchen, the VCH permit application and the city licence application both need to describe that arrangement and that address. Changing kitchens is not a mailing-address change; it can reopen the floor plan and inspection questions.
Events do not carry the permit with them. VCH states the permit is not transferable to a temporary event. Serving at a venue is the normal work of a caterer under its premises permit, but running a separate temporary food operation is a different approval question. Raise event formats that look like temporary food service with VCH before you sell them.
The menu is a regulatory document. VCH asks for menu items with ingredients and processes as part of the approval package. A catering menu that changes completely every booking still needs a submitted menu that honestly covers the cooking, reheating, holding, and transport processes you use. Write the first menu for the processes, not for one wedding.
Sequence for a Vancouver catering start
- Choose the kitchen and confirm the City licence class and zoning for that address.
- Submit the floor plan to VCH and wait for approval before any construction or alteration.
- File the Food Service Permit Application with the menu, food safety plan, sanitation plan, and FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate.
- Apply for the City of Vancouver business licence with the $77 application fee.
- Pass the VCH on-site inspection, then start booking events.
- Renew the city licence before December 31 each year and keep the annual VCH permit current.
What the opened pages do not state
The Vancouver Coastal Health page opened for this guide states that permit fees are processed at the time of approval but does not state the fee amount for a caterer permit, so this guide gives no VCH fee. The city's business licence page states the December 31 expiry and the renewal routes but does not state processing times for a new Caterer licence application, so none is given. The $533 Caterer figure comes from the 2026 fee schedule in the amending by-law; earlier schedules list a lower Caterer fee, and only the 2026 figure is carried here.
Related guides:
- How to Start a Catering Business in Canada — the national overview of catering startup and licensing.
- How to Start a Catering Business in Ontario — the Ontario catering route, for contrast with the Vancouver health permit system.
- How to Start a Food Truck in Vancouver — mobile food service in the same city and the same health region.
- How to Get a Food Handler Certificate in Canada — food handler training across Canada, including FOODSAFE in British Columbia.
Vancouver catering licence costs stated on the opened pages
| City of Vancouver business licence application fee | $77, non-refundable, paid with the application |
|---|---|
| Caterer annual licence fee (2026 schedule) | $533 per year under Licence By-law No. 4450, Schedule A as amended for 2026 |
Every Vancouver business licence expires on December 31 and is renewed annually. Vancouver Coastal Health permit fees are processed at the time of approval; the health page opened for this guide does not state the amount, so no health fee is listed here.
Questions people ask
What licences does a catering business in Vancouver need?
Two. A City of Vancouver business licence, because any organization doing business in or from Vancouver must have one, in the Caterer licence class. And a Vancouver Coastal Health food service permit for the kitchen where the food is prepared, because VCH lists caterers among the food service establishments that must hold a valid annual permit.
How much is the Vancouver business licence for a caterer?
The City's general application requires a $77 non-refundable application fee, with an additional pro-rated licence fee on approval. The 2026 fee schedule in Licence By-law No. 4450, Schedule A, lists the Caterer licence at $533 per year. Every Vancouver business licence expires on December 31, so the licence is renewed annually.
Does Vancouver Coastal Health have to approve my kitchen before I open?
Yes. Floor plans must be reviewed and approved by VCH prior to the beginning of construction, for new premises, renovations, and alterations. Before the initial inspection you submit the Food Service Permit Application Form, your menu, your food safety plan and sanitation plan, and your FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate. An Environmental Health Officer then inspects the premises on site.
Who needs FOODSAFE for a Vancouver catering business?
Every owner or operator of a food service establishment must hold a valid FOODSAFE Level 1 Certificate or its equivalent. When the owner or operator is away, at least one employee must hold this certification.
Can I cater from my home kitchen in Vancouver?
The health approval attaches to the food premises, not to the cook. VCH requires an approved floor plan, a permit for the premises, and an on-site inspection, and the City's licence application has a separate set of conditions for a home-based business location. A catering operation still has to pass through both systems for the address it actually cooks from, so confirm the home address can be approved before you build the business around it.
Can I transfer my health permit if I buy an existing catering business?
No. Vancouver Coastal Health states the annual permit is not transferable to a new owner, and it is also not transferable to a temporary event. A buyer applies for a new permit in their own name for the premises.
Sources
- Vancouver Coastal Health, Food Service Permits and Health Approvals — the valid annual permit rule covering caterers, the permit not being transferable to a new owner or a temporary event, floor plan approval before construction, the Food Service Permit Application, menu, food safety and sanitation plans, the FOODSAFE Level 1 requirement, and the on-site Environmental Health Officer inspection.
- City of Vancouver, Business licences — any organization doing business in or from Vancouver must have a business licence, the December 31 annual expiry, renewal online, in person, or by mail, and the Licence Office location and mailing address.
- City of Vancouver, Business Licence General Application — the $77 non-refundable application fee, the pro-rated licence fee on approval under Schedule A of Licence By-law No. 4450, and the commercial versus home-based premise sections.
- City of Vancouver, By-law No. 14479 amending Licence By-law No. 4450 regarding 2026 business licence fees — the 2026 Schedule A fee list, including the Caterer licence at $533 per year, and the rule that licence fees are payable annually unless otherwise specified.