British Columbia · Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch
BC liquor licence lookup, and what each licence type means.
British Columbia publishes its liquor licensees as downloadable lists rather than a name-by-name search. This guide points to them and shows how the 10,561 listed licences split by type.
Short answer: BC’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch publishes Excel workbooks listing all liquor licensees, and an open dataset of the same licences. In the October 22, 2026 workbook, 10,561 licences are listed and 6,111 of them (57.9%) are Food Primary, the restaurant-focused type.
Look up a licence type
Result
Pick a licence type and press Show the type.
What British Columbia publishes
The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch’s page on liquor licensed establishment locations offers three Excel workbooks and states that the lists include all liquor licensees in B.C. The first, All liquor licensed establishments in B.C., carries the liquor licence number, the licence sub-category such as winery, service area hours and capacity, licence expiry dates, endorsements, and the local government or First Nation jurisdiction. The other two cover liquor primary establishments and clubs where family foodservice and minors are permitted, and liquor store locations, hold locations and proposed relocations. The page says the reports are updated regularly and gives no schedule.
The same licences are listed as the Licensed Establishments in B.C. dataset on the Government of Canada open data portal, published by the Government of British Columbia under the Open Government Licence - British Columbia. Its description says the list holds about 10,000 licences, sortable by name, city, licence type and capacity, and is updated every two weeks, although the metadata labels the frequency as Continual. Treat the update schedule as unsettled and read the date on the file you open.
Open the LCRB licensed establishment lists ↗ Open the open data record ↗
Worked example: counting the October 22, 2026 workbook
The all-establishments workbook was last modified on October 22, 2026. Its active-licence sheet lists 10,561 licences. By type: Food Primary 6,111 (57.9%), Liquor Primary 1,842 (17.4%), Manufacturer 826 (7.8%), Licensee Retail Store 679 (6.4%), Agent 437 (4.1%), Liquor Primary Club 258 (2.4%), Rural Licensee Retail Store 232 (2.2%), UBrew and UVin 84 (0.8%), Wine Store 50 (0.5%) and Catering 42 (0.4%). These sum to 10,561. Pick any type in the tool above for its count, share and the Branch’s own description.
Two readings follow from the counts. Restaurants and cafes dominate: Food Primary outnumbers Liquor Primary by 4,269 licences, or 3.3 to 1. And the retail picture is split between 679 Licensee Retail Stores and 232 Rural Licensee Retail Stores. The Branch states there is a freeze on new Licensee Retail Stores until July 1, 2032 and that it is not accepting new applications for them, so that 679 is not set to grow by new licences before then.
The sheet is a snapshot, not a clean ledger. Six of the 10,561 rows carry an expiry date earlier than the workbook’s October 22 date, so a listing is a pointer to confirm, not a certificate.
Why this page copies no rows
The licence sheet includes a licensee column, and for some licences that column holds the names of individuals. This guide therefore publishes only counts. To check one premises, open the workbook or the open data record yourself and filter on the licence number or the establishment name, then confirm any expiry or status question with the Branch.
Reading the type names
The Branch describes Food Primary as for restaurants, bistros, cafes and other businesses whose primary focus is food, and Liquor Primary as for businesses that want to offer liquor as their primary focus or as an additional service to patrons. Manufacturer covers wine, cider, beer including brew pubs, and spirits. Agent covers businesses that promote, market and take wholesale orders for liquor products. The Branch’s licence page does not describe Liquor Primary Club, so the tool does not either.
Method
The tool looks up a fixed table in your browser: one description per licence type, copied from the Branch’s licence page, and one row count per type, tallied once from the October 22, 2026 workbook. The share is the count divided by 10,561, rounded to one decimal place. Nothing you pick is sent to our servers and nothing is looked up live.
What this does not cover
- A search for one named business. The official route is to filter the workbook or open data record yourself.
- Applications still in progress. The open data record says the list leaves them out.
- Licensee names, addresses or licence numbers, which this page does not republish.
- Licence conditions, hours or capacity for a specific premises, which sit on other sheets of the workbook.
- Whether any single licence is valid today.
Sources
- Province of British Columbia, BC liquor licensed establishment locations (publication date October 21, 2026) (retrieved October 2026)
- LCRB workbook, All liquor licensed establishments in B.C. (counted October 26, 2026; file last modified October 22, 2026) (retrieved October 2026)
- Open Government Portal, Licensed Establishments in B.C. (Open Government Licence - British Columbia) (retrieved October 2026)
- Province of British Columbia, Liquor licences and permits (last updated January 30, 2026) (retrieved October 2026)
Common mix-ups
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Often assumedI can apply for a new private liquor store licence in BC.
What the source saysThe Branch states there is a freeze on new Licensee Retail Stores until July 1, 2032, and that the government is not accepting new Licensee Retail Store licence applications. [1]
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Often assumedThe BC licensed establishments list shows every liquor licence application in progress.
What the source saysThe open data record describes a list of liquor licence holders and says applications still in progress are left out of it. [2]
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
Where do I look up a BC liquor licence?
British Columbia publishes Excel workbooks of all liquor licensees on its liquor licensed establishment locations page, and the same licences appear as an open dataset. Neither is a name-by-name search page; you filter the list.
How many liquor licences are there in BC?
The workbook last modified October 22, 2026 lists 10,561 licences on its active-licence sheet. The open data record describes about 10,000.
What is the difference between Food Primary and Liquor Primary?
The Branch describes Food Primary as for businesses whose primary focus is food, and Liquor Primary as for businesses wanting to offer liquor as their primary focus or an additional service to patrons.
Can I get a new Licensee Retail Store licence in BC?
The Branch says there is a freeze on new Licensee Retail Stores until July 1, 2032 and it is not accepting new applications for them. Rural Licensee Retail Stores are a separate type for general stores in rural communities and tourist destination resorts.
How often is the BC liquor licence list updated?
The Branch says only that reports are updated regularly. The open data description says every two weeks, while its metadata says Continual. Check the date of the file you open.
Is the BC licensee list free to reuse?
The open data record is published under the Open Government Licence - British Columbia. This page republishes no rows, only counts, so read that licence before reusing records.
Does the list include licences that are only applications?
No. The open data record says the list leaves out applications still in progress.
Guide only: not a BC government tool
This page is an unofficial guide. It is not run by the Province of British Columbia or the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch, does not search or copy licensee records, and nothing you pick is transmitted anywhere. A listing in a published workbook is not a confirmation that a licence is valid today. Confirm with the Branch. General information, not legal advice.