Provincial

Food primary liquor licence

Lets a restaurant or café serve alcohol when food is the main business, with a varied menu cooked in its own kitchen. Take-out-only restaurants, food trucks and food courts are not eligible. You need a CRA business number and a Business BCeID; the floor plan needs your municipality’s occupant-load stamp, and the municipality signs off only for service past midnight, dancing or karaoke, or a temporary use area. The licence also allows sealed alcohol for takeout or delivery with a meal — sold before 11 p.m., delivered by 11:30 p.m., by drivers 19 or older with Serving It Right. A catering endorsement adds off-site events.

A change is coming

  • The trial letting licensees buy from liquor stores ends — takes effect 1 June 2029. What changes
Who issues it
Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch
Cost
$950 for the application and first year ($475 + $475); renewal from $325 a year, by liquor purchases. Adding a catering endorsement: $330, then $130 a year.
Forms and pages

Do you need it?

You need it if

  • You want to serve alcohol in a restaurant or café where food is the main business.

You don’t need it if

  • You run a take-out-only restaurant, a food truck, a food court stall or a banquet hall — these can’t get one.
Where this comes from

Sources

How to get it

  1. 1

    Get a Business BCeID and your CRA business number

    You apply in the Liquor and Cannabis Licensing Portal, which uses a Business BCeID.

  2. 2

    Prepare the floor plan and personal history forms

    A floor plan stamped with your municipality’s Occupant loadThe most people a room or building may hold, worked out from its size and exits under the building code. It limits how many people you can seat, decides some fire-safety requirements, and must be posted once it is over 60.All terms in the glossary, showing the bar, entrances, furniture, patio, kitchen and washrooms, and a sample of your sign. Everyone in the business fills in a personal history summary.

  3. 3

    Apply and pay $950

    That covers the application and first year. Your municipality signs off only if you want to serve past midnight or offer entertainment like dancing or karaoke.

  4. 4

    Pass the final inspection

    After approval in principle, book the inspection when you’re ready to open; the licence is issued once you pass.

Where this comes from

Sources

Once you have it

  • Renew every year in the portal, from 60 days before expiry. The fee, from $325, depends on how much liquor you bought from the LDB.
  • Everyone serving alcohol needs Serving It Right.
Where this comes from

Sources

What comes next

Serving It RightProvince of BC (Responsible Service BC)

Which businesses need it

Restaurants & cafésOnly if you serve alcohol — apply earlyCaterers & personal chefsOnly if you serve alcohol (catering endorsement)

The rules behind this page

Last checked 9 October 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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