Business Licences

Business Licences

A Business Licence is your formal permission to operate a business within the City of Chilliwack.  The Business Licence Office is located at 8550 Young Road Chilliwack BC  V2P 8A4.  Hours of operation are Monday to Friday 8:30 am to 4:30 pm excluding Statutory holidays.  For information on the requirements for a licence phone 604.793.2909.  Please read our Business Licence brochure for more information.  If you are interested in downtown businesses, please see the Downtown Business Information Brochure.

Registering Your Business

Business Licence name searches and registration can be done online with the BC Registry or you can visit the provincial government's 'One Stop Registry' for business located at:

BC Access Center
45467 Yale Road West
Chilliwack BC
Phone: 604.795.8415
  
Step 1 - Selecting A Business Name

  • The first step in the registration process is the approval of a business name.  Business names must have both a descriptive and distinctive element.  The name approval process and registration can be completed online at www.bcregistrynames.gov.bc.ca. 
  • Name Approval Request forms may be downloaded from the Ministry of Finance website. Forms are also available at the BC Access Centre. The cost of name search is $35.00. 

Step 2 - Registering Your Business Name

  • Once your business name is approved, it is reserved for 56 calendar days.  Within this 56-day period, you must register your business with the Corporate Registry.  You can register your name approval online with a credit card or you can register at the BC Access Center.
  • The cost of registering your Sole proprietorship and partnership is $40.00. 
    Please note:  Sole proprietorship and partnership names have no statutory name protection.  If name protection is important to you, you may wish to incorporate your business (cost for incorporation is $350.00).
  • Business owners who decide to establish a business in their own name, without adding any other words (i.e. "and sons/daughters" or "and associates"), do not have to go through the Name Approval Request process, nor does their business have to be registered with the Corporate Registry.

For more information on starting a small business, please see the information booklet provided by the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue.  The information booklet is available in 8 different languages on the Ministry of Small Business and Revenue website.

Attachments
Description Date File Size
Appl. for Commercial Bus. License 2012-10-01 547KB
Appl. for Home-Based or Non-Resident Bus. License 2012-02-14 26KB
Business Licence Brochure 2012-08-15 231KB
Downtown Business LIcensing Brochure 2013-05-17 222KB
Starting a Small Business 2012-05-01 475KB

BizPaL

BizPaL is an online service that benefits Canadian businesses by helping them identify which permits and licences they require and how to obtain them. Entrepreneurs simply answer a series of questions on the type of business they want to start or operate and the activities they plan to undertake.

How BizPal Got Started

Business Licence Bylaw

This links to the Bylaw section of website. Look for 'Business Licence Bylaw 1484 (C)'.

Inter-municipal Business Licences

A business licence to operate in 9 different municipalities

© 2013