New Rules for BC Restaurants: What Changes and When
What changes for Vancouver Island restaurants from October 2026 to mid-2027: PST, payroll, local fees, patios, liquor and wages, each dated and sourced.
From October 2026 to mid-2027, a restaurant on Vancouver Island faces PST on three new business costs, new payroll rates, higher fees in several towns and a higher minimum wage. The biggest cluster lands on 1 January 2027. Below, in date order, is everything that costs money or needs a decision, each linked to its source.
Nobody opens a café to read council agendas, so we read them for our food business guide. On 26 September 2026 it tracked 35 changes for restaurants: 24 with a date set and 11 that are only proposed. Each one here was checked against its source that day.
1 October: PST on phones, cable and uniforms
From 1 October 2026, BC’s 7% PST applies to business toll-free numbers, basic cable TV and services to clothing, such as altering or repairing uniforms. Laundry and dry cleaning stay exempt (BC government; Budget 2026).
The PST on accounting, bookkeeping and other professional services, due the same day, was paused on 18 September (Office of the Premier). There is nothing to file: the tax arrives on your October bills, and a bar with the game on pays it on the cable bill.
Foreign-worker hiring: 9 October and 1 April
Employment and Social Development Canada won’t process low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessments in metropolitan areas where unemployment is 6% or higher. For applications made from 10 July to 8 October 2026, Victoria’s were processed at 4.6% unemployment and Nanaimo’s were not, at 6.5%. The next list takes effect on 9 October (ESDC).
Outside the Victoria and Nanaimo metropolitan areas, BC employers may keep their current share of low-wage temporary foreign workers until 31 March 2027, even above the 10% cap. From 1 April 2027, the cap applies again (ESDC).
1 November: pay transparency at 50 staff
Employers with 50 or more employees in BC on 1 January 2026 must publish a pay transparency report by 1 November 2026, and by every 1 November after. Until this year, only employers with 300 or more had to (BC government).
A restaurant group with a few locations can pass 50 without noticing. The count is everyone employed in BC on 1 January, not the number on the busiest shift.
1 January: three payroll rates change
WorkSafeBC’s average base rate stays at $1.55 per $100 of payroll for 2027, but it moves by industry: 48% of employers see their rate rise, and “Restaurant or Other Dining Establishment” is among the rates going up. The 2027 rates are preliminary (WorkSafeBC).
Employment insurance premiums become $1.64 per $100 of insurable earnings for employees and $2.30 for employers, on earnings up to $70,800, from $68,900 (ESDC). The base CPP rate is set to fall from 4.95% to 4.75% each for employee and employer; the cut is law but still needs a federal cabinet order, and the CRA hasn’t published 2027 figures (Bill C-30; Finance Canada). Look up your WorkSafeBC rate before you budget next year’s payroll.
1 January: local fees, town by town
Several Island councils have set new fees for 2027. These are the ones a restaurant pays:
Where What changes on 1 January 2027 Victoria Patio licence fees rise 2.5% a year to 2031: $4.17 a square foot for a simple patio in Fee Area 1 and $5.92 for a complex one, from $4.07 and $5.78 (bylaw, set for adoption 24 September 2026) Oak Bay The business licence rises from $50 to $100 a year, and a single-day licence falls to $25 (agenda, set for adoption 21 September 2026; minutes not yet posted) Courtenay A new business licence bylaw: $350 new or $250 to renew, plus a $50 application fee on a new licence, where a restaurant paid $150. A licence not renewed by 31 January is cancelled (bylaw) Courtenay Sewer: $1,632 a year for a café, restaurant or beverage room, from $1,328, and $816 for a bakery, from $664 (bylaw) Campbell River Unmetered sewer: $173.15 a month for a restaurant, $127.05 for a café and $428.87 for a pub or lounge; metered $1.35 per m³ (report) Capital Region Landfill fee for garbage: $165 a tonne, from $160, and $170 in 2028. Kitchen scraps stay at $140 (CRD) View Royal New home-business rules name catering, cafés and restaurants as banned home businesses (agenda) The surprise is the one that nearly happened. Under the patio bylaw in force, Victoria’s fees would have doubled in 2027; the amendment replaces that with the 2.5% steps (City of Victoria). In Courtenay, the bylaw doesn’t say whether a 2027 renewal of a licence issued under the old bylaw counts as new or renewed, so ask the City before 31 January.
4 January: combustible dust rules name bakeries
From 4 January 2027, employers whose work makes or uses dust that could burn need a written assessment of the risk, a dust management program and worker training. WorkSafeBC names bakeries, with their flour and sugar, as a typical case. Workplaces with no reasonably foreseeable risk from burning dust are exempt, and so is dust sealed in commercial packages (WorkSafeBC; WorkSafeBC).
Flour looks harmless until it is a cloud. On 2 May 1878, flour dust ignited inside the Washburn A Mill in Minneapolis, and the explosion and fires killed 18 workers (MNopedia). If you bake at volume, read the new rules now and decide whether they apply to you.
29 January: Victoria’s free permits end
Since 29 January 2026, complete applications for building, plumbing, electrical, sign and development permits in Victoria have paid no City fee. The waiver repeals itself on 29 January 2027, 12 months after its adoption, and standard fees return unless Council extends it (City of Victoria).
If you’re planning a fit-out, a change of use or a new sign, get a complete application in first. The cheapest permit in Victoria is a complete one, filed before 29 January.
1 April: liquor duty, and the store trial
The federal excise duty on beer, wine and spirits rises with inflation every 1 April. The 2027 increase is capped at 2%, or lower if inflation is, and BC wholesale prices update automatically, so it reaches you through the price list (Finance Canada). From 1 April 2028, breweries making under 15,000 hL a year, brewpubs and tasting rooms included, pay 10%, 20% or 40% of the regular duty by volume band, up from 5%, 10% and 20% (Bill C-30, s. 13).
Since 29 May 2026, food-primary, liquor-primary and catering licensees may buy from private and BC Liquor stores, at no less than the wholesale price. The trial ends on 1 June 2029 unless the province extends it or makes it permanent (LCRB).
1 June 2027: minimum wage, then packaging
BC’s minimum wage is $18.25 an hour. On 1 June 2027 it rises by BC’s 2026 inflation rate, as the Employment Standards Act requires every 1 June; the new amount hasn’t been announced (BC government; Employment Standards Act, s. 16.2). Further out, four more changes already have dates:
- 1 July 2028: takeout and delivery food can’t be handed out in PVC cling film, and PVC film wrap can’t be sold in BC (BC government).
- 1 January 2029: suppliers’ HFC refrigerant allowances fall from 60% to 30% of the baseline, leaving less for servicing older walk-ins, reach-ins and ice machines. There is no new duty on you (Justice Laws).
- 1 January 2030: “modified milk ingredients” on labels becomes “milk-derived ingredients” (CFIA).
- 1 July 2030: foam trays for raw meat, poultry and fish are restricted (BC government).
What’s proposed for BC restaurants, and may not happen
BC votes on 24 October 2026. The legislature is dissolved and WorkSafeBC has paused its open consultations until after the election, so provincial proposals may change or lapse; changes already set in law keep their dates (Elections BC). These 11 proposals had no date on 26 September 2026:
| Proposal | Decided by | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| Victoria’s noise bylaw: no outdoor amplified sound after 10 pm at commercial properties, limits on rooftop equipment, and waste pickup from 6 am to 7 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 7 pm on weekends | City of Victoria | Staff asked to draft the bylaws on 3 September 2026 (report) |
| Psychological health and safety rules, with the violence rules covering customers as well as co-workers | WorkSafeBC | Consultation paused for the election (WorkSafeBC) |
| One Inter-Community business licence: $170 on top of the local licence, with carts, trailers and food trucks excluded | 14 Island municipalities | Starts once all have adopted it; Colwood’s readings were on its 28 September agenda (Esquimalt report) |
| No parking variance needed to move into an existing Victoria space, for a use the zone already allows | City of Victoria | Referred to a public hearing, not yet scheduled (report) |
| A simpler process for events on private property | City of Victoria | Staff say more analysis is needed (report) |
| New parking and loading rules | District of Saanich | Final draft expected in early 2027 (Saanich) |
| Nanaimo drops its own sprinkler requirement in commercial and mixed-use zones | City of Nanaimo | On the 21 September 2026 agenda; not adopted (agenda) |
| A ban on promoting alcohol, including its price, outside the point of sale (Bill S-203) | Parliament | Senate second reading; would also need the House (bill) |
| Warning labels on packaged alcohol (Bill S-202) | Parliament | Senate third reading (bill) |
| Accessibility standards for service and hiring | Province of BC | Would reach restaurants only if extended to private businesses (BC government) |
| Only high-efficiency space and water heating sold after 2030 | Province of BC | A 2021 commitment; no regulation drafted (CleanBC) |
Four rows in that table, and the patio fees above, are councils deciding what their streets are for. Jane Jacobs made the case for why that matters.
Lowly, unpurposeful and random as they may appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which a city’s wealth of public life may grow.
— Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)
A restaurant is where a lot of that small change gets spent. The noise bylaw and the events process are the two worth writing to Victoria’s council about while they are still drafts.
Where to check what’s changed since
Rules move after a post is written. The restaurant page of our food business guide is kept current: a change comes off it once it takes effect, and a proposal stays labelled “Proposed — may not happen” until a government, board or council decides. Every entry links to the bylaw, regulation or notice behind it, and the guide is free and needs no account. Why we built it, and how it was checked, is in our launch post.
Local Pass is a platform that connects businesses and customers, not a regulator: each business is responsible for its own permits, licences and filings, and the guide exists to help you find yours. A change on a council agenda is free to read. On an invoice, it isn’t.
Good to know
When does the BC minimum wage go up in 2027?+
On 1 June 2027. BC’s Employment Standards Act raises the minimum wage every 1 June by the province’s inflation rate for the previous year, so the 2027 increase follows 2026 inflation. The rate is $18.25 an hour until then, and the new amount had not been announced as of 26 September 2026.
Do BC restaurants pay PST on phone and cable bills?+
From 1 October 2026, yes, on business toll-free numbers and basic cable TV, which lose their PST exemption along with services to clothing such as uniform repairs. The rate is 7%. Laundry and dry cleaning stay exempt, and the PST on professional services such as bookkeeping, due the same day, was paused on 18 September 2026.
Are Victoria patio fees going up in 2027?+
Yes, by less than first planned. Under an amendment set for adoption on 24 September 2026, Victoria’s patio licence fees rise 2.5% a year to 2031, reaching $4.17 a square foot for a simple patio in Fee Area 1 in 2027 and $5.92 for a complex one. The bylaw in force would have doubled them.
Which BC employers must publish a pay transparency report?+
From 2026, every employer with 50 or more employees in BC on 1 January of the year. The first report for this group is due by 1 November 2026, and another every 1 November after that. Before 2026, the requirement applied only to employers with 300 or more employees.
What happens to BC rule proposals during the provincial election?+
BC votes on 24 October 2026. With the legislature dissolved, provincial proposals may change or lapse, and WorkSafeBC has paused its open consultations until after the election. Changes already set in law, such as the 1 June 2027 minimum wage increase and the 1 October 2026 PST changes, keep their dates.
