Temporarily extend hours and/or area of a liquor-serving establishment

Applying for a temporary amendment

Review fees PDF file (417 KB)

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  Documents and fees to submit

  If you would like to make temporary amendments to your existing liquor licence, you will need to complete and submit:

  • A temporary liquor licence amendment form, using one of the following:
    • Change of hours PDF file  (72 KB)
    • Extension to licensed area PDF file  (169 KB)
    • Change of capacity PDF file  (64 KB)
    • Miscellaneous changes PDF file (56 KB)
  • Payment of the appropriate fee
  • Amend a liquor licence External website, opens in new tab with the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB)
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  Guidelines

  Applicable to all temporary requests to amend any liquor licence:

  • 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);
  • 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);
  • 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" (Council meeting notice May 6, 2006)

    Area	Special event hours
    Downtown - Primarily Commercial	9am to 4am, 7 days a week
    Downtown - Primarily Mixed-use	9am to 3am, Sunday to Thursday; 9am to 4am, Friday and Saturday
    Downtown - Primarily Residential	9am to 2am, Sunday to Thursday; 9am to 3am, Friday and Saturday
    Non-Downtown - Primarily Commercial/Industrial	9am to 3am, 7 days a week
    Non-Downtown - Primarily Mixed-use	9am to 2am, Sunday to Thursday; 9am to 3am, Friday and Saturday
    Non-Downtown - Primarily Residential	9am to 1am, Sunday to Thursday; 9am to 2am, Friday and Saturday
    Downtown Eastside (DEOD)	9am to 2am, Friday and Saturday only

  • 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
    • Exterior areas that are not associated with an existing approved patio must first obtain development permit approval from the Director of Planning
    • 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 as long as an Occupant Load for liquor service in the seating area has been obtained from the Vancouver Fire Prevention Office
  • Letter of support/permit approval limitations:
    • Opening hour and area extensions can be issued for up to 3 month intervals and
    • Closing hour extensions shall be limited to no more than 6 events per calendar year as per LCRB policy
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  Supporting documents

  • Complete and signed City Temporary Liquor Licence Amendment form
  • Complete and signed LCRB Temporary Change to Liquor Licence form
     Include all pages of the form. Those sections of the provincial form that are not applicable should be crossed out as “N/A” and initialed. Applications with missing pages will be returned as incomplete.
  • Copy of your valid Provincial liquor licence
  • Copy of the LCRB red-lined floor plan for the liquor licence (area extension requests only)
  • Floor plan (fully dimensioned) of requested area extension showing the relation of the existing licensed area to the area extension request (area extension requests only)
  • Site plan (fully dimensioned) showing the relation of the existing licensed area to the area extension request (area extension requests only)
  • Payment of the application processing fees
  • Cover letter indicating preferred contact name, business email address and telephone
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  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 LCRB requires a minimum of 3 weeks and we require a minimum of 10 business days processing time to review the application).  Applications submitted less than 5 weeks in advance or incomplete applications will not be supported and will be subject to a $99 minimum processing fee.
  2. Process payment of the application fee.
  3. Application circulated to relevant departments for comments and clearance.  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 LCRB temporary change application process.

Parameters for consideration

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  Closing hour extensions

  • Vancouver International Jazz Festival
  • Vancouver Pride Festival
  • Night preceding a statutory holiday
  • Other “one-off” dates (for example, grand openings, establishment anniversaries, charity fundraisers, unique or rare live performances, significant dates, or other similar functions) may be considered within the calendar year
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  Opening hour extensions

  • No requests to open earlier than 9am
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  Area extensions

  • Size of the area extensions are 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

  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.

  The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) restrict the number of temporary changes in the range of 4 to 6 events per calendar year. Contact the LCRB for further information External website, opens in new tab.

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