Businesses for sale

Pubs and bars for sale in Vancouver

Browse pubs and bars for sale in Vancouver, British Columbia — every listing confidential, data-rich, and free to browse.

8 active listings in Vancouver · Free to browse — sign the NDA in one click to see the full details.

Buying a pub in Vancouver: what is different here

Licensing, inspection and land-use rules are municipal, so they change at the city limits — these are the ones that attach to pubs and bars in Vancouver.

The municipal business licence

Vancouver's Licence Office issues a general business licence that most businesses operating in Vancouver need. It is issued to the operator, not to the premises, so it does not come with the business — a buyer applies in their own name, and the application is worth starting before closing rather than after. On top of it, Vancouver licenses “Restaurant” and “Limited Service Food Establishment” specifically, so a food & beverage business here usually carries a second, category-level licence as well.

Vancouver business licensing

Inspection history is public here

Vancouver Coastal Health inspects food premises in Vancouver and publishes the results as VCH Restaurant Inspection Reports. That is diligence you can do before making an offer and without the seller's cooperation — a run of repeat infractions is both a remediation cost and, in a business whose customers can read the same record, a revenue problem.

VCH Restaurant Inspection Reports

The liquor licence does not come with the restaurant

A liquor sales licence is issued by British Columbia's Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch to a person or corporation for a specific premises, and it does not transfer with the business. A buyer applies to the LCRB in their own name, which takes time and can lag closing — so who holds the licence, and from when, belongs in the purchase agreement rather than in the handover.

Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch

Confirming the use is actually permitted

A business operating today is not proof the use is legally permitted — non-conforming uses, expired variances and conditions attached to a previous owner all survive a sale quietly. In Vancouver that is confirmed before closing rather than after, through the office linked below.

City of Vancouver

General information, not legal or tax advice — rules change and the authorities above are the current source. Deavo is a listings platform, not a brokerage.