Business licences

Effective May 6, 2024, the City streamlined its business licence categories, consolidating over 500 categories into fewer than 100. While data from before this date will remain accessible, this dataset post-May 6 is organized according to the new, streamlined categories. Learn more about this update Business licences | City of Vancouver .

All existing business licences are transitioned automatically into the new categories. Some business licence categories retained the same name. Business owners will renew their licence at the end of each year and may select a different category from the one they were sorted into.

New businesses applying for a licence af​ter the update will also select from the updated categories. Business licence records from 2013 to 2024, up to May 3, 2024, with their original categories (BusinessType) are found in Business licences 2013 to 2024 ​​ dataset. Business licences 1997 to 2012 dataset remains the same.

Effective April 12, 2018, the business license dataset, including historical data files from 1997 forward to the current year, has been updated for home-based businesses. The City has removed the business address from the home-based business license category. Data currency The extract for business licences of the current year is updated daily.

Data accuracy There is a small chance that a licence number has been used twice. Licence RSN is an unique identifier. Business licences issued to out of town (outside of City of Vancouver) addresses do not have coordinates and will not show up on the map.

Not all City of Vancouver addresses have coordinates. A small percentage of businesses are issued with a replacement licence in a displayed year due to changes or when business type names were retired during mid-year. Address data of some selected business types was not disclosed to provide privacy protection.

There may be addresses that do not return coordinates in the geoding process. These records will appear in the Table view but not on the Map. Liquor License Application business type does not have Issued Date or Expired Date information because it is interim application for a valid business licence.

There may be some loss of quality from data entry errors. Websites for further information Licences and Permits Apply for a business licence ​ Licence Bylaw 4450 Contact Business Licence Office​