How to Start a Restaurant in Victoria

The short answer

Zoning and legal use first, then Island Health plan approval, then the build and inspection, then the City licence — in that order, because each step depends on the one before it. To open a restaurant in Victoria you need approvals from three separate bodies: the City of Victoria for zoning, legal use, and the business licence, Island Health for food premises approval and the annual operating permit, and the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) for a liquor licence if you serve alcohol. This guide walks the Victoria mechanics only. The national restaurant guide covers the parts that are the same everywhere in Canada; nothing in this guide repeats it. Victoria is not Vancouver: the health authority here is Island Health, not Vancouver Coastal Health, and the City licence fees and term are set by Victoria's own bylaw, not Vancouver's.

Step 1: Confirm zoning and legal use with the City before you sign a lease

Select a location first, then check it before you commit to it. The City's business licensing page states that zoning regulations vary in different areas of Victoria and determine the type of business you are permitted to operate. For zoning, contact the City's Development Services at 250.361.0316 or zoning@victoria.ca. For business licensing questions, contact 250.361.0572 or businesslicence@victoria.ca.

Zoning is not the whole check. The same page states that the legal use of the proposed space is different from the zoning, because it relates to British Columbia Building Code requirements. A building permit may be required for a change in use or for alterations to the physical space to confirm compliance with the code on fire protection, occupant safety, and accessibility. Check the current legal use by contacting the City's Permits and Inspections division at 250.361.0344. A space that is zoned for a restaurant but whose legal use does not allow one still cannot open as a restaurant without that change being approved.

Step 2: Get Island Health plan approval before you build

If you wish to operate a food premises in Victoria, you must submit an application to the local Health Protection and Environment Services office before construction or operation. Island Health is the health authority for Victoria, so this is the Island Health track, not the Vancouver Coastal Health track used in Vancouver. Use the Application for Food Facility form (June 2025), one completed application for each type of service in the facility, and return it to the nearest Environmental Public Health office. The form asks whether food or drink will be prepared on site for immediate consumption, whether seating will be provided and how many seats, and how sewage is disposed of.

The timing rule comes from the Food Premises Regulation, B.C. Reg. 210/99: a person must not construct or make alterations to food premises unless the plans and specifications for the construction or alteration have been approved by a health officer. Section 8 adds that a person must not operate a food service establishment unless the person holds a permit issued under that section. Submit the floor plan and the application, with a food safety plan and a sanitation plan for the premises and a menu, before work starts. The operator of a food service establishment must hold a FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate or an equivalent, and at least one person on shift must hold it when the operator is away.

Step 3: Build to the approved plan, then pass the pre-opening inspection

Build the kitchen to the plans Island Health approved. An Environmental Health Officer inspects the premises before opening to check that construction matches the approved plan and that food safety and sanitation standards are met. The permit follows a passed inspection, not a scheduled one, so do not set an opening date that assumes the first inspection passes.

The operating permit fee is set by the Health Act Fees Regulation, B.C. Reg. 274/92, current to November 3, 2026:

• Restaurant with 0 to 50 seats: $150 for a fiscal year.
• Restaurant with more than 50 seats: $250 for a fiscal year.

The fiscal year runs April 1 to March 31, and an operating permit in force on March 31 expires on March 31 of that year. A permit issued for part of a fiscal year is charged pro rata by month under the regulation's formula. The permit and its decal are not transferable, and a permit that does not bear a decal covering the current date is not valid. If the restaurant is certified under the FOODSAFE Excellence Certification Program, the fee is reduced by 50%.

Step 4: Apply for the City business licence

Every business in the City of Victoria is required to have a business licence. The City's business licensing page sets out the four steps: select a location, prepare the paperwork, complete a business licence application form, and go through the approval process. Send the completed form and supporting documents by email to businesslicence@victoria.ca, in person at the Public Service Centre on the main floor of City Hall, or by mail to City Hall, Attention: Business Licence Clerk, 1 Centennial Square, Victoria, BC, V8W 1P8. Some applications can be completed and submitted online.

The supporting documents that may be required include professional certificates, proof of incorporation and Notice of Articles, a health inspection certificate (for which the City directs applicants to Island Health), and a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. A restaurant, or any establishment serving food or drinks, must also submit a seating plan and layout showing the number of staff and the number of seats for customers, plus a layout of the equipment for the Permits and Inspections Department. Digital pictures are accepted.

The fees are set in the Business Licence Bylaw No. 89-071, consolidated June 18, 2026. The schedule items that matter to a restaurant are:

• British Columbia food-primary licensed business: $100.
• Licensed food-primary business with a lounge endorsement: $200 plus $7 per unit of licensed liquor-primary person capacity inside the Downtown Area, or $200 plus $6 per unit outside it.
• Licensed liquor-primary business: $300 plus $7 per unit of person capacity inside the Downtown Area, or $300 plus $6 per unit outside it.
• Any business not otherwise mentioned in the schedule: $100.

So a restaurant with a food-primary liquor licence pays $100 for the City licence, and a restaurant without a liquor licence falls under the $100 catch-all item — either way, budget $100 for the City licence itself and confirm the category with Business Licensing when you apply. A complete application takes approximately 10 working days to process, and several City departments must review and approve it before a licence is issued. Once approved, you receive an invoice at the mailing address you provided if you have not already paid in person, and you receive a mailed copy of the licence once you have paid. Payments must be received before a licence is issued.

The licence term runs January 16 to January 15 of the following year, and a licence issued part-way through the year is valid only until the next January 15, with the full fee still payable. Licences are non-transferable and the fees are non-refundable. Renew by January 15; after February 15 a $25 late fee applies. Conducting business without a valid licence is an offence, and the application form states the minimum penalty is a fine of $250 per day for each day the offence continues. A licensed establishment must enter into a good neighbour agreement in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor as a condition of receiving a new business licence if, in the Licence Inspector's opinion, it has had a negative impact on the neighbouring community through complaints, tickets or fines, or repeat visits by bylaw or police officers.

Step 5: Apply for the liquor licence, if you serve alcohol

To sell or serve alcohol you need a liquor licence from the province, not the City. The LCRB issues two licences that matter to restaurants:

Food Primary — the restaurant licence. Food Primary licences are for establishments where the primary focus is the service of food, such as restaurants, bistros, and cafes. The establishment must have a fully equipped kitchen and a defined dining area controlled by one food outlet. Take-out-only restaurants, mall food fairs, food trucks, and banquet halls do not qualify. The application and first-year licensing fee is $950, charged when the LCRB receives the application, and the annual renewal fee is calculated from the amount of liquor purchased. To apply you need a Canada Revenue Agency Business Number, a Business BCeID to access the online licensing portal, a Personal History Summary form with the supporting documents it lists, a floor plan with the occupant load stamped by the local government, and a sample restaurant sign. Once a complete application is submitted, the LCRB works with the Liquor Distribution Branch to review it, offers an Approval in Principle if everything is in order, and sends the name and contact information of your local liquor inspector within six months. When you are ready to open, contact the inspector for a final inspection; if it goes well, the licence is issued. Patron participation entertainment and liquor service beyond midnight need local government sign-off.

Liquor Primary — the bar licence. A Liquor Primary licence is for a liquor-focused service area, such as a pub, lounge, or nightclub, or for offering liquor service as an additional service. It costs a $2,200 application fee, paid when submitting, plus a $2,200 first-year licensing fee, paid when the licence is issued, with renewal fees based on annual liquor sales. Your local government must sign off on the application before you submit the completed package to the LCRB, and your business must be zoned for liquor service first. The application adds a Letter of Intent and a site map to the documents the Food Primary route needs. Most restaurants want Food Primary; choose Liquor Primary only if liquor, not food, is the focus of the room. Note the City licence fee changes with the liquor licence: a liquor-primary business pays the $300-plus-per-person City fee in step 4, not the $100 food-primary fee.

If you want a patio on the street or sidewalk

A patio is a separate licence, not part of the business licence or the liquor licence. Under the City's Patio Regulation Bylaw No. 23-035, no one may place, construct, or keep a patio on a street or sidewalk except under a licence of occupation from the Director of Engineering. Apply with the area to be occupied and the location and type of everything to be placed there; to be granted a licence you must hold a valid City business licence, have paid the fees, hold the insurance the bylaw requires, and have all other applicable permits. The bylaw recognises three kinds of patio:

• Simple patio: moveable furniture for seating and serving, placed on a sidewalk and removed daily.
• Complex patio: semi-permanent structures and furniture that are not removed daily.
• Enclosed patio: a complex patio with both a roof and walls — operating one is an offence under the bylaw, so do not plan a roofed and walled patio.

A seasonal licence runs six months; an annual licence runs January 1 to December 31. The fees are a $100 application fee for a new licence ($75 to renew a seasonal licence, $50 annual inspection fee for an annual renewal), plus a use fee per square foot set by fee area in Schedule B. For 2027 the use fee is $2.01 to $4.17 per square foot a year for a simple patio and $2.85 to $5.92 for a complex patio, or half those figures for a seasonal licence. The exact rate depends on which fee area the property fronts onto. A liquor licence for the patio is not needed before the patio licence is issued, but alcohol may only be served on the patio once the liquor licence covers that area.

The order that avoids rework

Confirm zoning and legal use with the City, get the Island Health floor plan approved, build to the approved plan, pass the health inspection and pay the operating permit fee, and hold the City business licence and the liquor licence until the approvals they depend on have landed. The expensive mistake is the reverse order — signing a lease on a space that cannot be zoned for a restaurant or whose legal use does not allow one, or building a kitchen to a floor plan Island Health has not approved and then rebuilding it after inspection. The licence and permit fees are the small money in this process. The lease and the fit-out are the large money, and both should wait until zoning, legal use, and the floor plan are confirmed.

What the opened pages do not state

Two figures a reader would reasonably want are not stated on the official pages opened for this guide, so they are not carried here. Island Health does not publish a processing time for the Application for Food Facility or for plan approval on the pages opened, and the City does not publish a separate processing time for a restaurant licence beyond the 10 working days for a complete business licence application. The LCRB pages also do not state a fixed processing time for a Food Primary application beyond the six-month window for the inspector contact after Approval in Principle. Ask Island Health for its current plan-review time when you submit the application, and ask the City which schedule item it will assign your restaurant if you open without a liquor licence.

Related guides:

• How to Start a Restaurant Business in Canada — the national restaurant guide: format, kitchen, suppliers, hiring, and opening routines that are the same everywhere in Canada.
• How to Get a Liquor Licence in British Columbia — the BC liquor licence guide, for the full LCRB picture beyond the restaurant classes covered here.
• How to Get a Food Handler Certificate in Canada — food handler certification, which sits alongside the FOODSAFE Level 1 requirement in this guide.
• How to Start a Restaurant in Vancouver — Vancouver's restaurant path, for comparison with Victoria's Island Health approval and City licence fees.
• How to Register a Business in British Columbia — registering the business itself with the province, before the municipal and health permits.
• How to Start a Bakery Business in Canada — the national bakery guide, for readers weighing a bakery against a restaurant.

Sources

• City of Victoria, Business Licensing — every business requires a licence, the January 16 to January 15 term, the four application steps, the zoning and legal use checks with Development Services and Permits and Inspections, the 10 working day processing time, the $25 late fee after February 15, and the payment routes.
• City of Victoria, Business Licence Bylaw No. 89-071 — consolidated June 18, 2026: the $100 food-primary licensed business fee, the $200 plus $7 or $6 per person food-primary with lounge endorsement fee, the $300 plus $7 or $6 per person liquor-primary fee, the $100 catch-all fee, the non-transferable and non-refundable licence rules, the $250 per day minimum fine, and the good neighbour agreement condition for licensed establishments.
• City of Victoria, Patio Regulation Bylaw No. 23-035 — consolidated September 24, 2026: the licence requirement, the simple, complex, and enclosed patio definitions, the six-month seasonal and January 1 to December 31 annual terms, the $100 application, $75 seasonal renewal, and $50 annual inspection fees, and the per-square-foot Schedule B use fees for 2027.
• City of Victoria, General Business Licence Application — the restaurant seating plan and equipment layout requirement, the $30 fee for the City to obtain incorporation documents, and the January 16 to January 15 licence term.
• Island Health, Food Safety — an application must be submitted to the local Health Protection and Environment Services office before construction or operation of a food premises.
• Island Health, Application for Food Facility (June 2025) — one application per type of service, return to the nearest Environmental Public Health office, and the seating capacity, on-site preparation, and sewage disposal questions.
• Government of British Columbia, Food Premises Regulation, B.C. Reg. 210/99 — plans and specifications must be approved by a health officer before construction or alteration, and a food service establishment must hold a permit to operate.
• Government of British Columbia, Health Act Fees Regulation, B.C. Reg. 274/92 — current to November 3, 2026: the $150 fee for 0 to 50 seats and $250 for more than 50 seats, the April 1 to March 31 fiscal year, the March 31 expiry, the non-transferable permit and decal rule, and the 50% reduction for FOODSAFE Excellence Certification.
• Government of British Columbia, Apply for a Food Primary licence — what qualifies for Food Primary, the $950 application and first-year fee, the documents needed, and the Approval in Principle and final inspection sequence.
• Government of British Columbia, Apply for a Liquor Primary licence — the $2,200 application fee and $2,200 first-year fee, the local government sign-off and liquor zoning requirements, and the Letter of Intent and site map.