All food vendors with a Vancouver business licence must comply with the utensils by-law. Food vendors are business, charities, and not-for-profits that:
Sell prepared food (food meant to be eaten without further cooking), or:
The utensils by-law does not apply to food service to patients in hospitals or residents of community care facilities.
Important information The utensils by-law does apply to food vendors with a Vancouver business license whose premises are located in hospitals or community care facilities (example: cafeterias, cafes) that serve prepared food to customers.
Selling packages of single-use utensils
Retailers are still permitted to sell packages of at least 20 single-use utensils for personal use.
Due to the extenuating circumstances of COVID-19, City staff are prioritizing outreach and education to ensure businesses have the support they need in order to comply with all five of the single-use item by-laws.
If a business is found to be out of compliance with the foam, plastic straw and utensil by-laws, initial City actions will focus on education, outreach and support to help them comply. Staff will be using discretion and enforcement will be reserved for cases of deliberate and harmful non-compliance after all outreach and education efforts have been exhausted.
Following these initial actions, increasing levels of enforcement may be used to address non-compliant operators. Non-compliant business license holders may be issued tickets that can lead to fines of up to $500 per offence. Business license holders with repeat offences may be subject to prosecution and face provincial court issued fines of up to $10,000 per offence.
During COVID-19, charitable food services may continue to distribute single-use items with food or meals, but are expected to begin working towards complying with the by-laws as soon as it is possible for them.
