Provincial

Seafood processor licence

Needed to process fish — fillet, smoke, can, freeze or pack it — for sale, unless the processing is part of a restaurant or shop with a Food premisesIn BC law, any place where food for the public is sold, prepared, packaged, stored, served or transported — a restaurant, a food truck, a bakery, a warehouse. The Food Premises Regulation sets the rules for all of them, with a few exceptions.All terms in the glossary permit. Also exempt: a commercial fisher who only bleeds, heads, guts, ices, freezes or packs their own catch at sea; a business with a federal processing licence; a freshwater fish farm; and processing a sport fisher’s catch that goes back only to them.

Who issues it
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Food

Do you need it?

You need it if

  • You fillet, smoke, can, freeze or pack fish for sale outside a permitted restaurant or shop.
Where this comes from

Sources

How to get it

  1. 1

    Write your food safety and sanitation plans

    The application asks whether you have — without them the licence may be denied.

  2. 2

    Send the form, plans and fee

    Include construction plans for a new or altered facility. Fees run from $50 to $1,800 by category; submit at Service BC or FrontCounter BC.

Where this comes from

Sources

Once you have it

  • Send an annual report at the end of each calendar year.
Where this comes from

Sources

Which businesses need it

Butchers, delis & fishmongersUnless processing is part of your permitted shopFishers & seafood sellersIf you process or pack fish for sale

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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