How to open a brewery, winery, cidery or distillery in BC

1. 1

   Zoning for a shop, café or kitchen

   Your municipality

   Check zoning for your production site first

   Before you sign a lease, check that the zoningZoningThe 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 at that address allows your use. Cities split food businesses into separate uses — restaurant, take-out, drive-through, food processing, retail — and a use a zone doesn’t list is not allowed there; making food with no counter is often an industrial use. Victoria’s 2018 zoning bylaw bans drive-throughs in every zone it covers.

   Cost:

   Looking it up is free. A written confirmation costs $80 to $210 where a municipality sells one — see the table on this page.

2. 2

   Building permit for a renovation or change of use

   Your municipality

   Altering a commercial space — or only changing its use, say a shop becoming a café — needs a building permit from your municipality, even with no construction; painting and other cosmetic work don’t. You can’t open until the building inspector’s final inspection and occupancy permit. A change of use can bring seismic, fire-separation, accessibility and sprinkler upgrades, and most municipalities want Island Health’s approved plans with it.

   Cost:

   Set by each municipality, from a percentage of the construction value to a fee per $1,000 — see the table on this page. Starting work without a permit usually doubles it.

   Time:

   Most municipalities publish no processing time. Victoria expects four to six months for extensive changes; Nanaimo targets 8 weeks for a tenant improvement.

3. 3

   Federal excise licence

   Canada Revenue Agency

   Producing or packaging spirits or wine needs a licence under the Excise Act, 2001; brewing beer for sale needs a brewer’s licence under the Excise Act, with a bond of at least $5,000. Excise duty is also payable on what you produce. Wine made wholly from Canadian honey or apples is exempt from duty, and so is a wine licensee with $50,000 or less in sales — an exemption from the duty, not from the licence.

4. 4

   Manufacturer licence: brewery, winery or distillery

   Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch

   Needed to make beer, wine (cider, mead and sake included) or spirits. The base licence covers production, tastings and tours; an on-site store endorsement lets you sell bottles and cans on site, online, by delivery and — with a market authorization — at farmers’ markets, and a lounge or special event area lets you sell drinks by the glass on site (both need local government input). You must own or lease the equipment, and hold your federal excise licence before the final inspection.

   Cost:

   $550 to apply, plus a first-year fee of up to $1,100 (brewery or distillery) or $550 (winery), prorated. An on-site store endorsement adds $110 to the application fee and $110 to the first-year fee, then $143 a year.

5. 5

   Sales agreement with the Liquor Distribution Branch

   BC Liquor Distribution Branch

   The Liquor Distribution Branch is BC’s only wholesaler, so every BC maker needs a signed sales agreement with it to sell anywhere in the province. The agreement’s class — land-based or commercial winery, craft or commercial distillery, brewery — sets your markup and who you may deliver to directly, and every product must be registered with it.

6. 6

   Island Health plan approval

   Island Health

   For a tasting room or food service

   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 prepackagedPrepackagedSealed 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 potentially hazardousHigher-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.

7. 7

   Serving It Right

   Province of BC (Responsible Service BC)

   Required by law of every licensee, manager and server who sells or serves alcohol. Licence terms add anyone delivering it — including a third-party app’s driver, who must also be 19 or older (common carriers such as Canada Post are exempt). At special events, servers can take the shorter Special Event Server course at any size; permit holders and managers can use it only for events under 500 people.

   Cost:

   The course is free; the exam is $40 (Special Event Server: $25). Valid 5 years.

8. 8

   Market authorization for alcohol at farmers’ markets

   Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch

   For selling at farmers’ markets

   Lets a brewery, winery, cidery or distillery with an on-site store sell sealed bottles and pour small samples at a farmers’ market. The market must qualify (at least six vendors who don’t sell alcohol, most of them farmers, food makers or artisans), and the local government must allow alcohol sales at markets. One authorization per market; staff need Serving It Right.

   Cost:

   Free, and approved automatically.

9. 9

   Special event permit (liquor)

   Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch

   For events

   Needed to sell or serve alcohol at an event outside a licensed venue; a private party at home needs no permit, but you can’t sell liquor there. The liquor must be bought in BC from an authorised store or maker, drink prices are capped unless the event raises money for charity, and events on public land need that government’s written permission. Servers need Special Event Server training or Serving It Right at any size of event; the permit holder and managers need Serving It Right if 500 or more people attend.

   Cost:

   $100 per day and location for a public event; $25 for a private one.

   Time:

   Apply 4 to 6 weeks ahead; events that don’t need police or LCRB review are approved automatically.

10. 10

    Farm store rules on Agricultural Land Reserve land

    Agricultural Land Commission

    For a farm winery, cidery or distillery on ALR land

    A farm stand or store in the ALRAgricultural Land Reserve (ALR)BC’s protected farmland. On ALR land, what you may sell, process or build is limited by the Agricultural Land Commission’s rules — for example how much of a farm store’s stock can come from other farms — on top of your local government’s.All terms in the glossary needs no ALC approval, and the ALC sets no size limit, if everything it sells is grown on your farm — though your local government can cap its building area or site coverage. Selling bought-in goods too caps the whole retail area at 300 m², at least half of it for your own farm’s products. Processing on the farm is allowed when at least half of what you process is your own. A café or restaurant is not a farm use and needs an ALC application — except the lounge of a licensed farm winery, cidery, brewery, distillery or meadery (up to 125 m² indoors and 125 m² outdoors).

    Cost:

    A non-farm-use application to the ALC is $1,500 ($750 to your local government, $750 to the ALC).

11. 11

    Deposits on drinks in containers

    BC Recycling Regulation (Encorp / Return-It)

    Anyone selling a drink in a sealed container must collect a deposit of at least 10¢ per container, shown on the receipt — unless it is drunk on your premises. A business that makes a drink in BC is its “producer” and must be covered by an approved stewardship plan: for non-alcoholic drinks, register with Encorp (Return-It) and pay its recycling fee per container. There is no small-producer exemption.

    Cost:

    2026 recycling fees: plastic 7¢, glass 13¢, aluminum 0¢ per container, on top of the 10¢ deposit the customer pays.

12. 12

    BC PST registration

    BC Ministry of Finance

    Food, candy included, is exempt from PST. Sweetened carbonated drinks — kombucha included — are taxed at 7%, and liquor at 10%. Sell only exempt food and you don’t register; sell soda beverages and you do, unless you are a small seller with $10,000 or less in sales and no shop.

13. 13

    Patio and sign permits

    Your municipality

    For a patio or signage

    Most municipalities require a permit for an exterior sign; Sidney doesn’t. A patio on a public sidewalk needs a patio licence or agreement where the municipality has a program at all — Victoria, Langford, Oak Bay, Sidney, Courtenay, Nanaimo and Duncan do — usually with $5 million of liability insurance naming the municipality.

    Cost:

    Signs from free (Sidney) to $250 (Colwood); patios from $50 to apply plus a yearly rate — see the tables on this page.

14. 14

    Municipal business licence

    Your municipality

    Every municipality on the Island requires a business licenceBusiness licenceYour municipality’s permission to do business there, renewed each year in most towns. It is separate from Island Health’s permits and from zoning: you usually need all three.All terms in the glossary — for a restaurant, café, shop or kitchen, for a business run from home, and for a food truck. For a storefront it is usually $100 to $200 a year, set by floor area; Nanaimo charges $165, Campbell River $150, and Courtenay’s fees rise in 2027. It is normally the last approval you get: most municipalities issue it only once zoning, building, fire and Island Health have signed off, and you can’t open before it’s issued.

15. 15

    Registering your business name

    BC Registries

    Trading under your own name needs no registration. Any other name means reserving it and registering within 3 months of first using it; a partnership registers within 3 months of forming. Incorporating is the alternative, and only a corporation, co-op or society gets exclusive use of its name.

    Cost:

    Name request $30 (reserved 56 days); sole proprietorship or partnership registration $40; incorporation $350, then a $43.39 annual report.

Rules where you are

Business licences, zoning and home-business rules differ by municipality.

• City of Victoria
• District of Saanich
• City of Langford
• Township of Esquimalt
• District of Oak Bay
• City of Colwood
• Town of Sidney
• City of Nanaimo
• City of Duncan
• Municipality of North Cowichan
• City of Courtenay
• City of Campbell River