Burnaby is quietly one of the best home bases in the region. The city mixes dense condo nodes (Metrotown, Brentwood, Lougheed — all still building) with established single-family neighbourhoods (Burnaby Heights, Deer Lake, the Crest) that generate steady maintenance, cleaning, painting, and yard demand. Its central position means a Burnaby-based operator reaches Vancouver, New Westminster, Coquitlam, and Richmond inside a 25-minute drive.
That geography matters for a service business: your real market is a drive-time radius, and Burnaby's radius covers more paying households than almost anywhere else in BC. Many Prontco clients based here run multi-city operations from day one — which makes the Inter-municipal Business Licence conversation especially relevant.
Business licensing in Burnaby
Burnaby requires a business licence for businesses operating in the city, including home-based ones, with fees varying by category (typically in the low hundreds annually — confirm against the city's current schedule). Home-based service businesses are generally straightforward to licence when client work happens off-site. Burnaby participates in the Metro West Inter-municipal Business Licence program, so operators working across city lines can often cover multiple municipalities with one licence. We prepare and submit everything; the city approves.
What works in the Burnaby market
Strong Burnaby niches: recurring cleaning for the tower districts (Metrotown and Brentwood turnover is constant), landscaping and lawn care in the single-family belts, handyman services for the city's large stock of 1960s–80s homes, and pressure washing — north-facing Burnaby Mountain-area properties grow moss like a crop.
Launched in Burnaby in about 10 business days
Registration, Burnaby business licence filing, brand, website, online booking, payments, Google Business Profile, and 30 days of support — from $997 flat. You do the work you're great at; we build the company around it.
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How much is a Burnaby business licence?
Fees vary by business category and are set in the city's current fee schedule — most small service businesses land in the low hundreds of dollars per year. We confirm your trade's current fee when preparing the application.
Can I serve Vancouver from a Burnaby base?
Yes — and most Burnaby-based operators do. Working regularly in other municipalities generally means licensing there too, which is where the Inter-municipal Business Licence often becomes the economical answer. We map this to your actual service area during setup.
What trades are underserved in Burnaby?
Small-job handyman work and recurring residential cleaning stand out — demand from the condo boom has outpaced the supply of professional, bookable operators. Yard care in the single-family neighbourhoods also skews toward informal competitors, which is winnable ground.
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Trade guides for Burnaby: Handyman · Hvac · Mobile Detailing · Epoxy Flooring · Pressure Washing · Junk Removal · Cleaning · Painting · Landscaping