Starting a food business in Duncan

Opening a shop, café, kitchen or truck in Duncan

Business licence

$100 a year on commercially zoned property — $125 if paid after March 1, $50 if issued after July 1.

Applying for the licence

In person, by email or by mail; no online form. Island Health must inspect and approve any food business, and the property owner signs the application. Processed within two weeks of payment.

Checking zoning

Check with Development Services (250-746-6126) before you buy or lease; the zoning map is a PDF. Food processing isn’t defined and industrial activity is banned in every zone, so ask Planning where a processor fits.

Building permit

Needed for a change of use, one per tenancy. $8 per $1,000 of value up to $100,000 (minimum $50), plus a plan review fee from $50, paid when you apply. Island Health’s stamp on the floor plan is on the checklist for food businesses, and a development permit may have to come first.

Fire inspection

No fire step in the licence process is published. Inspections are risk-based; one you request, or a second re-inspection, costs $110.

Food truck licence

$200 a year on private property, $500 on City property.

Food truck fire inspection

The mobile vendor application carries a Fire Chief sign-off and asks for a 10 lb ABC extinguisher and a Class K extinguisher.

Business licence

Every business operating in Duncan needs a licence — non-profits, home-based and out-of-town businesses included — and any food-related business must have an inspection completed and approved by Island Health. There is no separate home-based fee; the general category applies.

Home-based fee: "an annual fee of $100.00" ($125.00 if paid after 29 February; $50.00 for new licences issued after 1 July)

Running it from home

Duncan allows up to two home-based businesses per dwelling, with no clause specific to food, and you may sell only goods directly associated with the business and produced on the property. Odours, vapours and heat may not cross the parcel line, and in a multi-unit building no customers or employees may come to the premises.

• 40% of the dwelling up to 50 m², or 40% of an accessory building up to 50 m² — no more than 70 m² combined (s. 3.18.2).
• One non-resident employee and one business vehicle (s. 3.18.2).
• Only goods directly associated with the business and produced on the parcel may be sold; no outdoor storage (s. 3.18.3).
• No odours, vapours, heat, glare, electrical interference or recurring vibration crossing a parcel line (s. 3.18.3).
• Multi-unit buildings: no clients, patrons, customers or employees on the premises as part of regular business, and no sign (s. 3.18.4).
• The City says there are limits on customers attending the residence; the zoning table gives no number for single-unit homes.

Markets and events

A special event permit application costs $50.00, or nothing for a non-profit society. Each food truck needs its own licence ($200.00 on private property, $500.00 on City property), $2 million liability insurance naming the City and proof of Island Health compliance, and may not operate within 50 m of a permanent food service, 100 m of an elementary school or 150 m of a special event without permission.

Mobile businesses

Duncan’s Inter-Community licence covers all participating Vancouver Island municipalities; its new bylaw No. 3261 (in effect January 1, 2026) excludes mobile food vending — food carts, trailers and trucks. Separately, for a mobile business, a Duncan business licence automatically authorizes operations in Lake Cowichan, North Cowichan and Ladysmith under a Cowichan-area intermunicipal agreement.

Fee: "$170 for all participating municipalities"