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Temporary Liquor Licence Amendment Requests

If you wish to amend your Liquor Primary liquor licence for an opening or closing hour extension, area extension (e.g., patios) or other temporary change, you will need to submit an amendment request. This guide will provide the parameters within which commonly requested temporary amendments would be considered and supported.

Please note that any requests to temporarily amend a liquor licence will be required to be submitted within a minimum of 5 weeks in advance of the first requested amendment date.

» Parameters for Consideration
» Guidelines
» Application Process

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Parameters for Consideration

Closing Hour Extensions

• Vancouver International Jazz Festival;
• Vancouver Pride Festival;
• Night preceding a statutory holiday; and
• Twelve other “one-off” dates may be considered within the calendar year subject to no more than 2 requests per month.
  Note: “One-off” events that may be considered are grand openings, establishment anniversaries, charity fundraisers, unique or rare live performances, significant dates or other similar functions.

Opening Hour Extensions

• No limit on the number of days requested; and
• No requests to open earlier than 9:00 a.m.

Area Extensions

• Size of the area extensions will be assessed on a case by case basis;
• A limited number of extensions for existing approved patios will be considered for a maximum of 4 separate days in a calendar year; and
• Extension requests for 5 or more days in a calendar year, requests for outdoor seating from establishments that do not currently have an approved patio space or requests that would reduce or eliminate off-street parking and/or loading spaces for the site must first obtain a development permit approval from the Director of Planning.

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Guidelines

Applicable to all temporary requests to amend any liquor licence:

1. Your application will not be supported if there are any violations documented in the 4 months prior to the application submission date (previous 12 months will be reviewed);
   
   
2. Your application will not be supported if inspection staff have verified area resident or business complaints regarding the operation of the establishment for the 4 months prior to the application submission date (consideration for approval may be given if the business has taken extraordinary measures to resolve the issue of the complaint);
   
   
3. Favourable consideration will only be given to hours of operation extensions that are within the parameters of Table 1 “Council Approved Special Event Hours of Liquor Service by Area”;
   
   

   Table 1 “Council Approved Special Event Hours of Liquor Service by Area”

   Area	Special Event Hours
   Downtown - Primarily Commercial	9:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., 7 days a week
   Downtown – Primarily Mixed-use	9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., Sunday to Thursday; 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., Friday and Saturday
   Downtown – Primarily Residential	9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., Sunday to Thursday; 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., Friday and Saturday
   Non-Downtown – Primarily Commercial/Industrial	9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., 7 days a week
   Non-Downtown – Primarily Mixed-use	9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., Sunday to Thursday; 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m., Friday and Saturday
   Non-Downtown – Primarily Residential	9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m., Sunday to Thursday; 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., Friday and Saturday
   Downtown Eastside (DEOD)	9:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., Friday and Saturday only

   
   
4. Area Extensions:
   
   Area extensions to existing patios may be considered for one day up to a maximum of 4 times per calendar year without requiring development permit approval from the Director of Planning (extension requests that would reduce or eliminate required off-street parking or loading spaces will require development permit approval from the Director of Planning);
   
   Area extensions to exterior areas that are not associated with an existing approved patio must first obtain development permit approval from the Director of Planning; and
   
   Area extensions to seating areas in arenas, theatres or other similar venues holding a Liquor Primary liquor licence can be considered for an unlimited number of times per year provided an Occupant Load for liquor service in the seating area has been obtained from the Vancouver Fire Prevention Office.
   
   
5. Letter of Support/Permit Approval limitations:
   
   a. Opening Hour & Area Extensions can be issued for up to 6 month intervals; and
   
   b. Closing Hour Extensions shall be limited to 2 calendar months and a maximum of 21 extensions per permit or approval.

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Application Process

If you would like to make temporary amendments to your existing liquor licence, you will need to complete and submit a City of Vancouver Temporary Liquor Licence Amendment Form [ Change of Hours (70kb), or Extension to Licensed Area (62kb), or Change of Capacity (62kb), or Miscellaneous Changes (62kb) ] with payment of the appropriate fee. This form is also available at the Licence Office. You will also need to complete and submit a Liquor Control and Licensing Branch (LCLB) Temporary Change to a Liquor Licence Form (1.02mb) .

Temporary Liquor Licence Amendment Fees

Change of Capacity	$79.00
Change of Hours	earlier opening hours: $79.00 per liquor licence later closing hours: $0.37/seat per night
Extension to Licensed Area or Miscellaneous Changes	$79.00

 

Application Checklist

1. Complete and signed City of Vancouver Temporary Liquor Licence Amendment form
   
   
2. Complete and signed LCLB Temporary Change to Liquor Licence form
   Note: Include pages of the form. Those sections of the provincial form that are not applicable should be crossed out as “N/A” and initialled. Applications with missing pages will be returned as incomplete.
   
   
3. Copy of your valid Provincial liquor licence
   
   
4. Copy of the LCLB red-lined floor plan for the liquor licence (Area extension requests only)
   
   
5. Floor plan (fully dimensioned) of requested area extension (Area extension requests only)
   
   
6. Site plan (fully dimensioned) showing the relation of the existing licensed area to the area extension request (Area extension requests only)
   
   
7. Payment of the Application processing fees
   
   
8. Cover letter indicating preferred contact name, business email address, telephone and fax number

Review Process

1. Submit a complete application (as indicated by the checklist above) a minimum of 5 weeks in advance of the first requested amendment date. (The LCLB requires a minimum of 14 business days and the City of Vancouver requires a minimum of 10 business days processing time to review the application).
   Note: Applications submitted less than 5 weeks in advance or incomplete applications will not be supported and will be subject to a $79 minimum processing fee.
   
   
2. Process payment of the application fee.
   
   
3. Application circulated to relevant departments for comments and clearance.
   Note: Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority comments and/or clearances will be required for most applications. Additional departmental comments may be required (such as, Fire Prevention or Engineering – Street Administration) based on the nature of the request.
   
   
4. We will complete the application review and make appropriate comments within 14 calendar days of the application.
   
   
5. We will contact you to return the paperwork required for you to complete the LCLB temporary change application process.

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