Health approvals

Mobile food unit approval or permit

A food truck or cart needs Island Health to approve its plans before it is built, and an approval or permit before it opens. Type A units — 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 food, simple snacks, or ready food only handed out — get an approval. Type B units prepare 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 but cook no raw meat; Type C units can cook raw meat. Both get an 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 and need 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 and written plans. Unless the unit is self-contained, it also needs an approved base of operations.

Who issues it
Island Health
Cost
Type B or C: $150 a year, prorated by month, or a flat $75 that isn’t — your choice. A Type A unit selling only food that isn’t potentially hazardous pays nothing.
Forms and pages

Do you need it?

You need it if

  • You sell food from a truck, trailer or cart — any type. BCCDC’s guideline says even a unit selling only prepackaged food needs Island Health’s approval.

You don’t need it if

  • You only sell at events for fewer than 14 days a year in total — you follow the temporary event rules instead.
Where this comes from

Sources

How to get it

  1. 1

    Work out your type

    What you serve decides the type, and the type decides the sinks, water tank, plans and training you need (table below).

  2. 2

    Find a base of operations

    Somewhere approved to store, prep and clean: a restaurant, a commercial kitchen, a warehouse, or space at a house that is separate from the living space, approved by the 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 and allowed by ZoningThe municipal rules that say what each property may be used for. A café, a bakery or a food processor needs a property zoned for that use before any permit is worth applying for — check it before you sign a lease.All terms in the glossary. A unit that is fully self-contained may be allowed to work without one.

  3. 3

    Get your drawings approved before you build

    Send scale drawings of the equipment layout, the plumbing and the construction details — for the unit and the base — and wait for approval before construction starts. Buying a used unit to renovate? Talk to your EHO before you buy.

  4. 4

    Apply

    Fill in the Application for Food Facility, ticking “mobile” and your type, and attach your menu, food safety and sanitation plans and FOODSAFE certificate (Type B and C). Send it to the nearest Environmental Public Health office.

  5. 5

    Pass the inspection and pay

    The EHO inspects the unit before it opens. The fee must be paid before the permit is issued.

  6. 6

    Display the permit on the unit

    Somewhere it can be seen.

Where this comes from

Sources

Type A, B or C: what you serve decides it

Mobile food unit types and what each needs
Type AType BType C
What it servesPrepackaged food; or simple food like popcorn, cotton candy, mini-donuts, nachos, pretzels or churros; or only hands out ready food such as pizza and baked goodsPrepares higher-risk food like hot dogs, precooked burgers, sandwiches, soups, chili, falafel, wraps or specialty coffee — but cooks no raw meatAnything, including cooking raw meat — donairs, curries, stir-fry
Island Health givesAn approvalAn operating permitAn operating permit
Dishwashing sinks2 (none if prepackaged only)23
Hand sinkRecommendedRequiredRequired
Fresh water tank36 L36 L130 L
Food safety and sanitation plansMay be requiredRequiredRequired
TrainingRecommendedFOODSAFE or equivalentFOODSAFE or equivalent

The wastewater tank must be enclosed and 25% bigger than the fresh water tank.

Fees: a Type B or C unit pays, at your choice, $150 a year prorated by month or a flat $75 that isn’t prorated. A Type A unit selling only food that isn’t potentially hazardous pays no fee.

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

  • Each unit needs its own approval or permit, and it can’t be transferred to a new owner.
  • Keep the food safety and sanitation plans on board, and record your sanitizer concentration every day.
  • Send a revised 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 if you start travelling farther from your base each day, or stop returning to it as the plan says.
  • Talk to your EHO before changing the menu; alterations to the unit need plans approved first.
  • At markets and events you don’t need a Temporary food service permitIsland Health’s permit to cook or serve food at a fair, festival or other event, or to cook or sample higher-risk food at a market. Apply at least 14 days ahead.All terms in the glossary while you stay within your permit’s conditions — carry proof of it.
  • Working in another health region? Each one must approve the unit, but only your home region charges the fee.
  • The permit expires March 31; Island Health invoices renewals in April.
Where this comes from

Sources

What comes next

Gas approval for a food truckTechnical Safety BCFire inspection for a food truckYour municipality’s fire departmentWhere a food truck may park and sellYour municipality

Which businesses need it

Food trucks & cartsSelling from a truck, trailer or cart.

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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