- Apply for a Vancouver business licence — commercial, home-based and out-of-town categories; apply online and track status
- Home-based business licence requirements — the business must be run by someone who lives there, within floor-area limits
- Metro West Inter-Municipal Business Licence — $300/yr add-on for eligible trades to work in six cities (our guide)
- BC Registries — register a sole proprietorship · CRA — when to register for GST
Vancouver licences run on the calendar year and expire December 31 regardless of when issued. Fees are set per category in the Licence By-law and change annually; the application fee is non-refundable. Processing time depends on whether zoning, building or health approvals are triggered — apply earlier than you think.
Vancouver is the deep end of the Metro Vancouver pool: the most customers, the highest willingness to pay, and the most competitors — many of them polished. From heritage homes in Kitsilano and Dunbar needing constant maintenance, to the condo towers of Yaletown and the West End generating endless cleaning and small-repair demand, to East Van's mix of young owners renovating older housing stock, the work is everywhere.
What Vancouver punishes is looking informal. Customers here comparison-shop on Google, read reviews, and book online. A skilled operator without a web presence is invisible in this market in a way that isn't quite as fatal in smaller municipalities. The upside: because the baseline is digital, a properly launched new business can outrank sleepy incumbents surprisingly fast.
Business licensing in Vancouver
Vancouver's Licence Office assigns the category. Both of these are live 2026 figures; which one a given business lands in is the office's call, and the gap is $99 a year.
| Fee | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| BC Registries — name request | $30 | Up to three names |
| BC Registries — sole proprietorship | $40 | Or $350 to incorporate |
| City of Vancouver — General Contractor | $376 | Annual |
| City of Vancouver — Building Repair and Maintenance Services | $277 | Annual |
| City of Vancouver — application fee | $77 | Non-refundable, one time |
| Metro West Inter-Municipal Business Licence | $300 | Twelve months, not pro-rated. |
Read off By-law 14479, the 2026 business licence fee schedule on 22 September 2026: the fee schedule itself, alongside the City of Vancouver 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
Vancouver licences run the calendar year and expire on 31 December no matter when you got them, so a licence bought in October is a licence you renew in January. Pay late and the fee is $47 or 10% of the licence, whichever is greater.
Working in more than one city
The Metro West Inter-Municipal Business Licence is $300 and covers Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Delta and New Westminster on one licence, for trades contractors and others in the construction industry, contractors who maintain, repair or inspect land and buildings, and in-home health-care providers. Twelve months, not pro-rated. The bylaw is worth two minutes before you pay it.
Running it from home in Vancouver
Nearly every business we launch starts in a spare room and a driveway, and each of the five cities licences that differently. Vancouver’s rules, as written:
- No more than three customers at the property at any one time, and only between 8am and 8pm on weekdays, 10am to 8pm on weekends and holidays.
- Up to two non-resident employees on site at once — the most generous staffing rule of the five cities.
- The business may occupy up to 33.3% of the home's total floor area or 46 m², whichever is less.
From City of Vancouver, home-based business rules — 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 Vancouver market
Strong niches in Vancouver right now: recurring house cleaning (condo density plus dual-income households), handyman services (aging housing stock, few small-job contractors), mobile detailing (underground parkades full of nice cars), and painting (heritage homes repaint often, and pre-sale repaints track the active listing market).
Launched in Vancouver in about 10 business days
Registration, Vancouver business licence filing, brand, website, online booking, payments, Google Business Profile, and 30 days of support — from $497 once ($997 incorporated, then 3 months of Standing included, includes 3 months of Standing ($179/mo after, cancel anytime)), or $0 to build with Growth at $397/mo, month to month. Vancouver's licence fee is set by trade class under By-law 14479, so we quote the exact class before filing. You do the work you're great at; we build the company around it.
Book a free launch callAlready trading in Vancouver? Your Vancouver business licence renews every year, and if you’re incorporated the BC annual report has its own date. Standing files both for Vancouver businesses, $179/mo, first month free.
See Standing → Text usVancouver startup FAQ
How much is a business licence in Vancouver?
Fees vary by business type and are set by the City of Vancouver's current fee schedule — many service categories land in the low-to-mid hundreds of dollars per year. We confirm the current fee for your specific trade when we prepare your application.
Can I run a business from my Vancouver apartment or condo?
Generally yes for service businesses that work at client locations — Vancouver's home occupation rules are designed for exactly this. Strata bylaws can add their own wrinkles, so we flag anything relevant during setup.
Is Vancouver too competitive for a new service business?
It's competitive at the top and surprisingly weak in the middle — plenty of incumbents coast on age rather than presence. A new business with a complete Google profile, real reviews, and online booking regularly outperforms established competitors who never invested in being findable.
What each trade charges, and what Vancouver charges it
Vancouver runs its licences on the calendar year, so the fee below buys you the rest of 2026 whatever month you file in. Nine trades we launch, priced by the engine behind our public calculators and calibrated to 2026 Metro Vancouver rates, next to what Vancouver charges each one to licence. Click a trade to price a job of your own.
| Trade | Market range | Vancouver licence |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaning | $40–$75 an hour | $277–$376 |
| Painting | $40–$100 an hour on site | $277–$376 |
| Landscaping | $35–$80 an hour per visit | $277–$376 |
| Pressure washing | $50–$160 an hour | $277–$376 |
| Mobile detailing | $40–$95 an hour | $277–$376 |
| Handyman | $70–$145 an hour | $277–$376 |
| HVAC | $110–$190 an hour | $277–$376 |
| Epoxy flooring | $6.50–$13 a square foot | $277–$376 |
| Junk removal | $42–$68 a cubic yard | $277–$376 |
Your own prices are yours to set; these are what the market is doing.
Free reminder
Text me 2 weeks before my Vancouver business licence renews (December 31).
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Trade guides for Vancouver: Handyman · Hvac · Mobile Detailing · Epoxy Flooring · Pressure Washing · Junk Removal · Cleaning · Painting · Landscaping