The Surrey Board of Trade (SBOT) is lobbying for an inter-municipal business licence system to allow Surrey businesses to operate freely across the Lower Mainland.
“The municipal business licence has become one of the greatest obstacles to commerce where business activity crosses municipal boundaries, as happens frequently in the Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley regions,” a statement from the SBOT reads.
“The requirement to buy a business licence for every municipality has resulted in large numbers of operators buying one or two licences, or simply not buying any at all.”
The SBOT notes that there is some variation between mobile business licence agreements in the province. It points to an agreement in the Okanagan-Similkameen as one “functioning” agreement.
Under that model, a mobile business licence costs $150 and allows a business to work in all 19 participating municipalities and regional districts. Local governments retain all revenue generated by the sale of the licences and businesses remain responsible for complying with the bylaws of each municipality and regional district in which they operate.
According to SBOT, other areas that offer a mobile business licence are:
- North and West Vancouver;
- Greater Victoria;
- Trail;
- Cowichan Lake; and
- Courtenay and Comox.
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