Business Licences

A business licence is required to own or operate a business in View Royal.  

What type of licence do I need?

There are a number of different licences available. You may even need more than one.

  • Apartment, Pub or Liquor Store - If you are interested in operating an apartment, pub or liquor store.

  • Bed & Breakfast - If you are interested in operating a Bed & Breakfast. See Section 4.3 of the Zoning Bylaw for additional requirements for this business type.

  • Commercial - If you have a specific commercial location space that your business operates.

  • Home Occupation - If you are interested in operating a business in your residence, there are additional requirements to operate a home business such as:
    • The occupation must be a specifically authorized use within your property's zoning;
    • You must live in the home where the business occupies;
    • The business cannot create any offensive odors, noise, ground vibration, or electrical interference;
    • It must be completely enclosed within a building;
    • It cannot include retail sales for any item produced off-site;
    • It cannot increase traffic or parking, unless you meet additional parking requirements;
    • The space occupied by the occupation must be less than 20% of the total floor area of the home and not more than 400 square feet.


      See Section 4.2, 6 and 7 of the Zoning Bylaw for information on the restrictions and permitted uses of a home operated business.

  • Inter-municipal - If you need to carry out your work throughout Greater Victoria on different sites (eg. trades, personal services, contract work).

  • Inter-community - If you carry out work in communities all over Vancouver Island including Greater Victoria. To see participating communities click here.

  • Non-Resident - If you are from outside Greater Victoria, but need to work in View Royal for a specific job (i.e. generally construction or contracts that are not ongoing but for a specific job until completion).

How do I apply?

  1. Download and complete the Business Licence Application Form;
  2. Bring the completed forms, along with your payment (cash/cheque/debit/credit), into Town Hall.

*Please note that for all business licence applications, the location of a business must be a physical address where the owner/operator can be contacted directly. An application with a business location using a post office box or storage unit will not be accepted.

Business Signage

If you would like to use signage for your business, please refer to the Sign Bylaw and apply for a Sign Permit.

Be sure to apply for a sign permit BEFORE erecting or ordering any signage. There may be requirements around the type of signage, sign placement, size, letter heights and illumination.


For more information: