Liquor Retail Store Locations in BC – Private & Government

Map Updated: October 31, 2019

Important: each municipality has different policies, guidelines, and requirements in regards to liquor retail stores. Zoning, distance from schools, community centres, and local area shopping districts are additional factors that may influence the eligibility of an LRS placement. Please contact Dustin Miller to find out the specific requirements of the municipality of interest.

Dustin’s consulting group can help discover locations, trade licenses, or relocate. The moratorium on LRS issuances is not expected to be lifted. It is critically important you do not allow your LRS license to remain dormant for a period of 2 years or longer.

Liquor Retail Store Licenses (LRS) across BC

Distance Criteria

Your proposed LRS must be at least 1 km away from any existing or proposed LRS or BCLS. You must confirm that your proposed LRS location is at least 1 km from any existing or proposed LRS location and any existing or proposed BCLS location before completing your application form.  The distance is measured from the front door to the front door of each establishment as the crow flies. The front door is the main entrance to the licensed or proposed licensed establishment regardless of whether the location is in a mall, grocery store or freestanding building. For stores with both interior and exterior entrance doors, the applicant must identify the main entrance (i.e., the front door).

The Branch uses the programs Streets and Trips and Google Earth to determine the distance between LRS and BCLS locations. A list of the LRS and BCLS locations is available online at www.gov.bc.ca/liquorregulationandlicensing There are prescribed circumstances as noted in Liquor Control and Licensing Regulation 60(2) where LCLB will approve a location that is within 1 km of an existing or proposed LRS or BCLS. If your proposed location is within 1 km of an existing or proposed LRS or BCLS, you are responsible for ensuring that your application provides sufficient detail to demonstrate that your site meets one of the circumstances. Your application will be considered incomplete if it does not include sufficient information. If LCLB determines that your proposed site is not an eligible location because it is within 1 km of another LRS, proposed LRS, BCLS or proposed BCLS, your application will be terminated.

New: Grocery Store Eligibility

The grocery store declaration must be completed by the grocery store owner if your proposed site is located in a grocery store. A grocery store is defined as:

• primarily engaged in retailing a general line of foods, including canned, dry and frozen food, fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh and prepared meats, fish and poultry, dairy products, baked products and snack foods, and non-liquor beverages, intended for human consumption, and
• having an area of at least 10,000 square feet, including storage.

To maintain eligibility, the conditions above must continue to be met, and the sales revenue from food and non-liquor liquor beverages must:

• total at least 70% of the total sales revenue of non-liquor products, and
• total more than 50% of the total sales revenue of liquor and non-liquor products in the grocery store.