Liquor Licensing
At the City of Victoria, we are involved in the review of all new applications for, and amendments to liquor-primary licences.
The City is only involved in the review of food-primary licences when the business owner is requesting hours of liquor service past midnight and/or an entertainment endorsement. We are not involved in the review of temporary changes to either liquor-primary or food-primary liquor licences.
In all cases the application process starts at the Liquor Control & Licensing Branch.
Businesses that serve alcoholic beverages must obtain and hold a valid liquor licence issued by the Liquor Control & Licensing Branch. There are two main types of liquor licence:
- Liquor-primary licence is for a business whose focus is primarily the service of alcoholic beverages (E.g. a cabaret).
- Food-primary licence is for a business whose focus is primarily the service of food (E.g. a restaurant).
