How to Start a Food Truck in Richmond, BC

The short answer

In Richmond, a food truck needs three approvals before it sells anything: a Vancouver Coastal Health permit, a fire inspection decal, and a City of Richmond business licence — plus permission for the specific place it will park. The health permit and the fire decal feed into the business licence application, so the order matters. Get the health and fire pieces underway first, then apply for the licence, then lock in your location. A truck with a licence but no approved spot, or a great spot with no health permit, is not ready to trade.

This is a Richmond process, not a provincial one. Vancouver Coastal Health covers Richmond for health approvals, the City of Richmond issues the business licence and controls locations, and Richmond Fire Rescue — or the regional Mobile Outdoor Food Service Unit (MOFSU) inspection program — covers fire safety. Rules from Vancouver, Toronto or another BC city do not transfer automatically.

Pick your operating route first

Richmond has three distinct routes, and the paperwork differs for each. Choosing the route early saves rework, because a private-property application, a sidewalk application and an event application go to different City offices and ask for different documents.

On private property, you apply for a Temporary Commercial Use Permit (TCUP) for a mobile food vendor. You submit the application form with a site plan showing the proposed layout, a food truck parking worksheet, and, if you are acting for a property owner rather than as the owner yourself, a letter of authorization from that owner. The City runs a public notification period during the application process: businesses and residents on the subject property receive a letter with instructions on how to comment on the permit application. Expect neighbours to have a say, and pick a site where parking, loading and customer access already work.

On public property, the City licences designated sidewalk locations along the No. 3 Road corridor to mobile food vendors. There are nine approved vending locations, chosen because they fit varying sizes of food carts or food trucks, allow safe loading and unloading, and will not obstruct pedestrian activity. Vendors apply on a first-come, first-served basis, confirm the proposed location with the City, and, once approved, sign a Licence Agreement valid for two years with the option of renewing once. The public-property application goes to the Economic Development Office, not the Business Licencing Department.

At a community special event, the event organizer runs the vendor application for that event — the City is not involved in selecting vendors for a specific event. You still need a City of Richmond business licence to operate at an event in Richmond, with the same proof of a commercial kitchen, Vancouver Coastal Health permit and fire or MOFSU decal. Treat the event date as a hard deadline: vehicle inspections must take place at least two weeks before the event.

Step 1: Vancouver Coastal Health approval

Richmond sits in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, so that health authority issues your food service permit. Its application asks for the practical details of how you will run a safe mobile kitchen: a list of menu items including ingredients and processes for foods and beverages prepared, packaged and served; a Food Safety Plan and a Sanitation Plan; and, for a mobile premises, a copy of your Mobile Commissary Agreement. That agreement must show your commissary access and include details of the location, procedures for filling water tanks, and procedures for disposing of wastewater.

The 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. Book the training early if no one on your team holds it yet, because the certificate is a licence requirement, not a nice-to-have. Vancouver Coastal Health does not publish a permit fee amount on its food service permits page. Its page says permit fees are processed at the time of approval, so confirm the amount with VCH before budgeting.

Step 2: fire inspection

Before the City will licence you, your truck or trailer needs a Richmond Fire Rescue inspection or a MOFSU inspection decal. The MOFSU program is the regional route: fire departments across the Lower Mainland take part, and Richmond holds an annual MOFSU Inspection Day each April, when nearly 20 fire department representatives inspect food trucks and food trailers on site. If your timeline fits, that day can clear the fire step in one visit. If it does not, arrange an inspection directly and keep the two-week rule for events firmly in mind — an inspection booked the week of the event is too late.

Step 3: City of Richmond business licence

With health approval and a fire decal in hand, apply for the City of Richmond business licence. For a private-property TCUP, submit the completed application package to the Business Licencing Department at buslic@richmond.ca (phone 604-276-4328). For a public-property sidewalk location, submit your application to the Economic Development Office at economicdev@richmond.ca (phone 604-247-4934) and confirm your proposed location against the City's Mobile Food Vending Locations Map.

For a sidewalk licence agreement, the City also requires a damage deposit application and payment, followed by a damage deposit site inspection, before the agreement is drawn up. Before you can operate under that agreement you must submit commercial liability insurance with the City of Richmond named as additional insured, vehicle liability insurance on the ICBC APV-47 form, a copy of your full menu, photos of the food truck from all sides with its dimensions, and a load-in and load-out procedure, with a brief description and a simple drawing on a map. The City may ask you to meet on site for a load-in and load-out run-through. Build that procedure around the real constraints of the spot — where the truck enters, where customers queue without blocking the sidewalk, and how waste leaves the site — rather than writing something generic.

What it costs

The published figures are: $95.75 per vehicle for the City business licence for a mobile food vendor, $109 for a private-property Temporary Commercial Use Permit and $109 for its renewal, and for a City sidewalk location $1,200 a year for the licence agreement, a $2,000 refundable security deposit, and a $202 non-refundable property inspection fee. Those figures come from the City of Richmond Consolidated Fees Bylaw 8636 (consolidation July 28, 2025) and the City's public-property application form (July 29, 2025). City fees change on January 1 each year, so confirm the current figures with the City before you commit. The one figure this guide still does not quote is the Vancouver Coastal Health permit fee: VCH does not publish an amount on its food service permits page, so confirm it with VCH before you commit to a truck payment or a commissary contract. A budget built on a guessed fee is a budget that will break at the counter.

Timelines to plan around

Work backwards from your first trading date. Health approval needs a complete package — menu, plans, commissary agreement and FOODSAFE certificate — and an incomplete package is the usual cause of delay, so submit it complete rather than in pieces. Fire inspections need at least two weeks of lead time before an event, and the April MOFSU Inspection Day is a once-a-year chance to clear that step alongside other Lower Mainland vendors. A private-property TCUP adds a public notification period, so a site you need next week is not a realistic plan. A sidewalk agreement, once signed, gives you two years with one renewal option, which makes the location choice worth more care than a first-season pitch.

Mistakes that stall Richmond applications

The most common stall is applying for the licence before the health and fire pieces are ready. The licence process asks for proof of both, so a licence application without them goes nowhere. The second is choosing a location before checking which route it belongs to: a private parking lot needs a TCUP and a notification period, a No. 3 Road sidewalk pitch needs a licence agreement and a damage deposit, and an event pitch needs the organizer's acceptance plus the same City licence. The third is treating a health permit from another health authority as enough on its own. Richmond's licence process asks specifically for a Vancouver Coastal Health permit, so confirm with the City before relying on a permit issued elsewhere. Finally, do not skip the commercial kitchen proof. The City requires proof of a commercial kitchen where food will be prepared as part of the licence inspection process, and a home kitchen does not meet that requirement.

Related guides: food truck permits and licences in Canada, how to start a food truck in Ontario, how to start a sole proprietorship in BC.

Sources

• City of Richmond, Mobile Food Vendor — a Temporary Commercial Use Permit is required on private property, valid two years with one two-year renewal; nine approved sidewalk locations along the No. 3 Road corridor, first-come first-served, with a two-year Licence Agreement renewable once; the business licence process requires proof of a commercial kitchen address, a Richmond Fire Rescue or MOFSU inspection decal, and a Vancouver Coastal Health permit; event inspections must take place at least two weeks before the event, and the annual MOFSU Inspection Day is held each April.
• City of Richmond, Mobile Food Vendor Application Form — Public Property — the annual licence fee is $1,200, a refundable security deposit of $2,000 is required, and a non-refundable property inspection fee of $202 applies; one location per business; permitted hours Monday to Sunday, 10:00am to 2:00am; vendors are regulated under Business Licence Bylaw 7360 and Business Regulation Bylaw 7538. (Form 8122757, July 29, 2025.)
• City of Richmond, Consolidated Fees Bylaw No. 8636 — the Mobile Vendors (Food) business licence fee is $95.75 per vehicle; a Temporary Use Permit for a Mobile Food Vendor is $109, and its renewal is $109. (Consolidation with amendments 10675 and 10688, July 28, 2025.)
• Vancouver Coastal Health, Food Service Permits and Health Approvals — every operator of a food service establishment, including mobile food service providers, must hold a valid annual permit; the application requires a menu with ingredients and processes, a Food Safety Plan and a Sanitation Plan, and a Mobile Commissary Agreement showing commissary access, water-tank filling and wastewater disposal; the owner or operator must hold a FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate or equivalent, and at least one employee must hold it when the owner or operator is away; permit fees are processed at the time of approval.
• BC Centre for Disease Control, Mobile Food Premises Guidelines — a valid operating permit or written approval must be obtained before operating a mobile food premises unit, and the annual permit fee, if required, must be paid before a permit is issued; the base of operation (commissary) must meet the Food Premises Regulation, with potable water supply and wastewater disposal documented in the sanitation plan. (July 2024.)
• FOODSAFE, Take a course — FOODSAFE Level 1 is for food service establishment operators and front-line food service workers, offered as an 8-hour classroom course or online; under the Food Premises Regulation, every operator must hold a FOODSAFE certificate or equivalent, and at least one employee present must hold one while the operator is away.
• Greater Vancouver Fire Chiefs Association, Mobile Food Vendors — Metro Vancouver Guidelines — the regional inspection program for mobile food vendors across the Lower Mainland: once inspected, a Lower Mainland Food Vendor sticker is applied and the unit may operate in a participating municipality, subject to business licence approval; Richmond is a participating municipality; vendors must be inspected annually and display the GVFCA inspection sticker.