Health approvals

Island Health plan approval

Before you build, renovate or fit out a restaurant, café, bakery, food processor, commissary, food truck or food shop, Island Health must approve your floor plan and equipment. You send the plans first, build only once they are approved, and an inspector checks the finished space before you open. A shop selling only whole fresh produce, or PrepackagedSealed in its package before it reaches the customer, the way it will be sold. Prepackaged food must carry the federal food label.All terms in the glossary foods that aren’t Higher-risk foodFood that bacteria can grow in, or produce toxins in, unless it is kept cold or hot — meat, fish, dairy, eggs, cut fruit, most cooked meals. The law calls it “potentially hazardous food”. It must come from an approved kitchen, never a home one.All terms in the glossary, is exempt.

Who issues it
Island Health
Forms and pages

Do you need it?

You need it if

  • You are building, renovating or fitting out a restaurant, café, take-out, bakery, food processor, commissary or food shop.
  • You are building a food truck or cart, or buying a used one to renovate.
  • You are altering a premises that is already approved, or moving to a new location.

You don’t need it if

  • Your shop sells only whole fresh fruit and vegetables, or prepackaged foods that aren’t “potentially hazardous” — foods that can’t grow harmful bacteria.
Where this comes from

Sources

How to get it

Island Health’s Environmental Health Officer (EHO)Island Health’s inspector. Your EHO reviews your plans, inspects before you open and afterwards, and is the person to ask before you change your menu, equipment or layout.All terms in the glossary (EHO) reviews your plans before anything is built, then inspects the finished space before you open. Plan the kitchen around what they check.

  1. 1

    Find your local office

    Everything goes through the Environmental Public Health office for your area (listed below). Talk to them before you order equipment — they can tell you what they need for your kind of business.

  2. 2

    Draw the floor plan

    Draw it to scale and label every piece of equipment, sink and storage area. Island Health’s sample floor plan shows the level of detail. Show hand sinks in the food areas, used only for handwashing, with liquid soap and paper towels; a three-compartment sink, or a commercial dishwasher with a two-compartment sink, for dishes; and ventilation that keeps smoke, grease, condensation and odours from building up. Floors, walls, ceilings and counters must be smooth, durable, non-absorbent and easy to clean.

  3. 3

    Put together the rest of the package

    An Application for Food Facility (one for each type of service in the space), equipment specifications, your menu, a written Food safety planYour written account of where food could become unsafe in your kitchen and how you prevent it — cooking and cooling temperatures, for example, and what you do when one is missed. BC requires one from every food premises, alongside a sanitation plan.All terms in the glossary and Sanitation planYour written routine for cleaning and sanitizing, pest control and garbage: what is cleaned, how, how often and with what. BC requires one from every food premises, alongside a food safety plan.All terms in the glossary, and the operator’s FOODSAFEBC’s food handler course. The operator of a restaurant, café, food truck or other food service business must hold a FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate or an equivalent.All terms in the glossary Level 1 certificate if you will serve food. A corporation or society adds its certificate of incorporation; a partnership, its partnership agreement. Not on municipal water or sewer? Your water supply needs its own Island Health permit, and you may need to show the septic system can cope.

  4. 4

    Send it, and wait for approval before you build

    The EHO may ask for more information or changes. Island Health publishes no review time and no plan-review fee, so ask how long it is taking when you send it.

  5. 5

    Build — and check in while you do

    Island Health recommends checking in with your EHO during construction, so a problem is caught before the walls are closed.

  6. 6

    Pass the pre-opening inspection

    When the space is finished, the EHO tests the equipment, checks it was built to the approved plans and may review your food safety and sanitation plans. Once everything meets the regulation and any fee is paid, you get your Operating permitIsland Health’s permit to run a restaurant, café, food truck or other food service business. You get it after the pre-opening inspection, pay its fee each year, and post it where customers can see it.All terms in the glossary or approval to operate. You cannot open before that.

Your municipality usually needs these health-approved plans for the building permit — Victoria before it issues one, Langford and Nanaimo with the application. Start here first: health approval is often what the rest of the project waits on.
Where this comes from

Sources

Where to send it: Island Health offices

Applications go to the Environmental Public Health office for your area. Island Health’s form says to return it to the nearest office; it doesn’t say whether email is accepted, but every office publishes an email address — ask when you first get in touch.

Island Health Environmental Public Health offices and the areas they serve
AreaOfficeEmail
Greater Victoria, the West Shore and SookeVictoria (Gateway Village), 250-519-3401gateway_office@islandhealth.ca
Cowichan Valley, Saanich Peninsula and the Southern Gulf IslandsDuncan, 250-737-2010HPES.Duncan@islandhealth.ca
Nanaimo, Oceanside and Alberni-ClayoquotNanaimo (250-755-6215), Parksville or Port AlberniHPES.Nanaimo@, HPES.Parksville@ or HPES.PortAlberni@islandhealth.ca
Comox Valley, Strathcona and the North IslandComox Valley (250-331-8518), Campbell River (250-850-2111) or Port HardyHPES.Courtenay@, HPES.CampbellRiver@ or HPES.PortHardy@islandhealth.ca
Island Health lists the Saanich Peninsula — Sidney, North Saanich, Central Saanich — under its Duncan office, not Victoria.
Where this comes from

Sources

Once you have it

  • Build and run the space as approved. Any later construction or alteration needs new plans approved first — the application form has a “change to facility” box for it.
  • Check with your EHO before you change the menu.
  • A new owner or a new address starts again with a new application and fee; a change of business name alone doesn’t.
  • The premises must stay separate from, with no direct access to, any living quarters.
Where this comes from

Sources

What comes next

Building permit for a renovation or change of useYour municipalityFood safety plan and sanitation planYou write them; Island Health approves themHealth operating permitIsland HealthApproval to operateIsland Health

Which businesses need it

Restaurants & cafésOpening or running a restaurant, café, take-out or coffee shop.BakeriesA commercial bakery, with or without a counter.Caterers & personal chefsIf you build your own kitchenDelivery-only & ghost kitchensIf you build your own kitchenPackaged food makersIf you build your own kitchenKombucha, juice & coffee makersIf you build your own kitchenBreweries, wineries, cideries & distilleriesFor a tasting room or food serviceGrocers & specialty food shopsRunning a grocery, market store, deli counter or specialty food shop.Butchers, delis & fishmongersCutting and selling meat, fish or deli foods.

The rules behind this page

Last checked 5 November 2026. We check this guide regularly against Island Health, provincial and municipal sources, but regulations and laws change often and we can’t guarantee it is complete or current. Confirm with Island Health and your municipality before you apply, build or sell.

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