- Coquitlam business licences — separate application forms for commercial, home-based and non-resident businesses; include supporting documents to avoid delays
- Tri-Cities Intermunicipal Business Licence — $175/yr, not pro-rated, lets a mobile business based in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam or Port Moody work across all three; eligibility is broad (contractors, trades, landscaping, janitorial and more). Coquitlam is not part of the Metro West IMBL
- BC Registries — register a sole proprietorship · CRA — when to register for GST
Coquitlam licences expire one year from commencement and renew annually. The first step for any commercial or industrial location is confirming zoning; home-based businesses use their own application form.
Coquitlam runs the full spectrum in one city: rapid tower growth around Coquitlam Centre and the Evergreen Line, established family streets in Maillardville and Austin Heights, and the large hillside homes of Westwood Plateau and Burke Mountain — a construction zone that has been minting brand-new neighbourhoods (and brand-new garages, yards, and maintenance needs) for a decade straight.
The practical advantage is the cluster: Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody function as one service market. An operator based here naturally works all three — plus Burnaby next door — which makes the Tri-Cities one of the most route-efficient launch bases in the region, and makes multi-city licensing strategy part of the day-one plan rather than an afterthought.
Business licensing in Coquitlam
Coquitlam is the one city of the five that doesn't publish its licence fees on its website — the schedule lives in Fees and Charges Bylaw 5484 on a document server that isn't publicly readable, and the licence categories aren't published either, because the bylaw leaves classification to the Licence Inspector. We won't print a figure we can't source. We phone the licence office on 604-927-3085 and quote you the exact amount before anything is filed.
| Fee | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| BC Registries — name request | $30 | Up to three names |
| BC Registries — sole proprietorship | $40 | Or $350 to incorporate |
| Tri-Cities Intermunicipal Business Licence | $175 | Runs with your city licence, not pro-rated. |
Read off Business Licence Bylaw 4344 (2013), which defers every fee to Fees and Charges Bylaw 5484 (2025) on 22 September 2026: the fee schedule itself, alongside the City of Coquitlam licence page. Municipal fees change every year, so we confirm your exact figure before anything is filed and pass it through at cost.
The renewal clock
A Coquitlam licence runs one year from the day the business started or the day the licence was issued, whichever came first — so trading before you licence shortens the licence you eventually buy. Applying after you've started operating, or after the licence has lapsed, adds 25% of the fee.
Working in more than one city
The Tri-Cities Intermunicipal Business Licence is $175 and covers Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody on one licence, for mobile businesses based in one of the three that travel from client to client — contractors, trades people, landscapers and the like. It is a noticeably broader test than Metro West's. Runs with your city licence, not pro-rated. The bylaw is worth two minutes before you pay it.
Running it from home in Coquitlam
Nearly every business we launch starts in a spare room and a driveway, and each of the five cities licences that differently. Coquitlam’s rules, as written:
- The business may occupy up to 40% of the home's residential floor area — the most generous of the five.
- One non-resident employee is permitted, alongside at least one resident running it.
- No outdoor display or storage; the work has to be fully enclosed in the building.
From City of Coquitlam home-occupation business licence application and Zoning Bylaw — read it in full. Breaching one of these is how a licence gets refused after you have paid for it, which is why we read them before we file.
What works in the Coquitlam market
Strong Tri-Cities niches: epoxy garage coatings (Burke Mountain and Westwood Plateau's newer homes are the region's best coating market — our epoxy example business is set here deliberately), landscaping on the hillside lots, pressure washing (north-slope moss is relentless), house cleaning for the tower districts, and handyman work across the aging Maillardville-area stock.
Launched in Coquitlam in about 10 business days
Registration, Coquitlam business licence filing, brand, website, online booking, payments, Google Business Profile, and 30 days of support — from $997. You do the work you're great at; we build the company around it.
Book a free launch callCoquitlam startup FAQ
How much is a Coquitlam business licence?
Fees are set by category in the city's current schedule, with most small service businesses landing in the low-to-mid hundreds annually. We confirm the current amount for your trade when we prepare the application.
Can one licence cover Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Port Moody?
Often, yes — the Metro West Inter-municipal Business Licence covers participating municipalities under a single licence, and the Tri-Cities cluster is its textbook use case for trades businesses. We assess your service area and file the structure that fits; each municipality sets its own final requirements.
What's the best trade to start in Coquitlam?
Epoxy and garage-focused trades have unusual strength here thanks to a decade of new hillside construction, with landscaping and pressure washing close behind. The honest answer depends on your skills — which is exactly what our free discovery call is for.
What each trade charges, and what Coquitlam charges it
Coquitlam does not publish its licence fees, so the last column is the one figure on this page we confirm by phone rather than print. Nine trades we launch, priced by the engine behind our public calculators and calibrated to 2026 Metro Vancouver rates, next to what Coquitlam charges each one to licence. Click a trade to price a job of your own.
| Trade | Market range | Coquitlam licence |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning | $40–$75 an hour | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Painting | $40–$100 an hour on site | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Landscaping | $35–$80 an hour per visit | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Pressure washing | $50–$160 an hour | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Mobile detailing | $40–$95 an hour | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Handyman | $70–$145 an hour | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| HVAC | $110–$190 an hour | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Epoxy flooring | $6.50–$13 a square foot | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
| Junk removal | $42–$68 a cubic yard | Not published — we confirm it with the city |
Your own prices are yours to set; these are what the market is doing. What you actually take home depends on how full your calendar is and how you run the business, which is not something anyone can promise you from a table.
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Trade guides for Coquitlam: Handyman · Hvac · Mobile Detailing · Epoxy Flooring · Pressure Washing · Junk Removal · Cleaning · Painting · Landscaping