How to buy a business in Vancouver and BC Draft

Buying an existing business can be faster than starting from nothing. You take over customers, staff, suppliers, a location and a trading history. It also moves risk to the due diligence stage: you are paying for what the business actually earns, so you need to verify it. This guide covers the steps for buying a business in Vancouver and elsewhere in British Columbia.

It is general information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. Use a BC lawyer and an accountant on any purchase.

Why buy rather than start

• Trading history. You can read past financial statements instead of guessing.
• Customers and operations. Staffing, suppliers and processes already exist.
• Financing. A business with a track record gives a lender financial statements to assess, which a start-up cannot.
• Lease and licences. A favourable lease or existing permits can be worth a lot in Vancouver, where commercial space is costly. These are not automatically yours: the lease needs the landlord’s consent to assign, and licences need checking (see below).

The risks are the mirror image: paying too much, inheriting liabilities, and a business that depends on the departing owner.

Step 1: Decide what suits you

Match the business to your experience and capital. Decide between an independent business and a franchise. A franchise brings a brand and support, and also fees and limits on how you operate. In BC, the Franchises Act requires the franchisor to give a prospective franchisee a disclosure document at least 14 days before the franchisee signs a franchise agreement or any other agreement relating to the franchise, or pays the franchisor any consideration relating to the franchise, whichever comes first. Read the disclosure document with a lawyer.

Step 2: Find businesses for sale

Common routes are business brokers, online listing sites, industry contacts and approaching owners directly. Brokers usually work for the seller, so treat their numbers as a starting point. Sign a non-disclosure agreement before you receive detailed financials. Expect that owners value their business more highly than a buyer will.

Step 3: Value the business

Valuation is a negotiation backed by analysis. Common methods are:

• Multiple of earnings. Adjusted earnings (seller’s discretionary earnings or EBITDA) multiplied by a factor that depends on the industry, size and risk.
• Asset-based. Fair value of equipment, inventory and property, minus liabilities.
• Discounted cash flow. Projected cash flows discounted to today.

Adjust the earnings for one-off items and for the owner’s pay. If the owner works 70 hours a week for a low salary, the true profit after you hire a manager is lower. A business plan with your own projections shows whether the price makes sense for you, and lenders will ask for one. See our business plans page.

Step 4: Due diligence

Check, with your accountant and lawyer:

1. Financials. Three to five years of statements, tax returns and bank statements. Reconcile them to each other.
2. Customers. Concentration (does one customer make up a large share of revenue?), contracts and churn.
3. Lease. Term remaining, renewal rights, rent increases and whether the landlord will consent to an assignment.
4. Employees. Contracts, wages owing, and obligations that carry over. Under section 97 of the BC Employment Standards Act, when all or part of a business is sold, employees’ employment is treated as continuous and the buyer takes on the seller’s obligations to those employees under the Act, including length of service and accrued vacation pay. Employment that the seller properly ended before the sale stays with the seller.
5. Legal. Litigation, liens, outstanding tax and contracts. Search the BC Personal Property Registry (part of BC Registries) for security interests and liens registered against the business or the seller.
6. Licences and permits. Which are required and whether they transfer.
7. Equipment and premises. Condition, ownership and any leases or financing on them.
8. Dependence on the owner. Relationships, know-how and what a transition period would look like.
9. Industry factors. In a restaurant, for example, the lease expiry date matters more than almost anything else.

Step 5: Structure the deal

In an asset purchase you buy selected assets and assume only agreed liabilities. In a share purchase you buy the company with all of its history. Tax treatment differs for buyer and seller, and the choice is negotiated. Get tax advice before you sign a letter of intent. Typical documents are the letter of intent, the purchase agreement, the lease assignment and any non-compete and transition agreements.

Step 6: Financing

Options include your own funds, a bank or credit union loan, seller financing (a vendor take-back) and investors. Lenders will want the business’s financials, your plan and often a personal guarantee. The federal Canada Small Business Financing Program shares the risk with lenders on some loans to businesses with $10 million or less in gross annual revenue. Term loans can finance items such as commercial land and buildings, equipment, leasehold improvements, intangible assets and working capital, up to $1.15 million per borrower in total (term loans up to $1 million, lines of credit up to $150,000; as of the page dated June 22, 2026). The program page does not say whether the purchase price of an existing business, for example goodwill, qualifies, so ask the lender. Seller financing can also tie the seller to the business’s success during the transition.

Step 7: BC registrations, taxes and licences

Check each of these for your business before closing.

• Registering the business. A company or proprietorship is registered through BC Registries. If you buy shares, the company’s existing registration continues; update directors and the registered office. If you buy assets into a new company, incorporate it first. A company must file a notice of change of directors with the registrar within 15 days after a change in its directors (Business Corporations Act, section 127).
• Business number and GST. The CRA business number is used for GST/HST, payroll and corporate tax accounts. Businesses must generally register for GST/HST once taxable revenue goes above the small-supplier threshold, which is $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters or in a single quarter (CRA). When a business is bought as a going concern, the buyer and seller may be able to make a joint election under section 167 of the Excise Tax Act (CRA Form GST44) so that no GST/HST is payable on the sale. CRA’s memorandum 14-4 says the buyer must acquire substantially all of the property needed to carry on the business (generally 90% or more), the buyer must be a GST/HST registrant if the seller is, and the form is filed by the buyer’s first return due date in which tax would otherwise have been payable. Some items, such as taxable leases and sales of real property to a non-registrant, remain taxable. Ask your accountant whether the election applies.
• PST. BC’s provincial sales tax applies to many goods and some services, and businesses that sell taxable items must register. Buying a business’s assets can itself trigger PST on some of them. According to the Province’s page on buying and selling a business (updated July 31, 2026), PST applies to taxable goods and software acquired, such as equipment, furniture, computer hardware and supplies. It does not apply to accounts receivable, goodwill, inventory bought for resale, real property or shares. If the seller is not a PST collector, the buyer reports the PST on its own return. The page also advises buyers to get a PST clearance certificate before buying, because without one the buyer can be liable for the seller’s outstanding amounts.
• Municipal business licence. Operating in Vancouver requires a City of Vancouver business licence. Other municipalities have their own. Vancouver allows some licences to be transferred to a new owner for the same type of business; otherwise the new owner applies for a new licence. Check with the City before closing.
• Industry licences. Food service, liquor, cannabis, childcare and others have provincial regulators.
• WorkSafeBC. Employers must be registered with WorkSafeBC. WorkSafeBC advises contacting it before buying a firm’s assets: if the seller owes unpaid premiums, the assets may be subject to a lien in WorkSafeBC’s favour, and a clearance letter protects the buyer against such liens. Clearance letters for asset purchases can be requested only by phone or fax, not online.
• Property transfer tax. Applies when you acquire an interest in land registered at the Land Title Office. The general rates are 1% of fair market value up to $200,000, 2% from $200,000 to $2,000,000 and 3% above $2,000,000, with extra taxes on high-value residential property and on residential property bought by foreign nationals in specified areas (Province of BC, as of November 8, 2026). The Province’s page does not address transfers of company shares that hold land, so ask your lawyer.

Buying a business and BC PNP Entrepreneur Immigration (Base)

Some people buy an existing BC business as part of an application to the BC Provincial Nominee Program, Entrepreneur Immigration, Base stream. This section describes the program only. It is not immigration advice, and a licensed immigration consultant or lawyer should advise on your case.

According to WelcomeBC, the Base stream requires, among other things, a minimum net worth of $600,000 CAD, a personal investment of at least $200,000 CAD in the business, at least one new full-time job for a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and ownership of at least one-third of the business. Applicants register an expression of interest, and are scored on a business concept; a comprehensive business plan is required only if invited. The Base stream is described as intended for entrepreneurs who “establish new businesses or take over and grow existing businesses in B.C.” For an acquisition, the Base guide adds conditions, including the following.

• The target business must be named in the registration and must have been operated by its current owner for at least 60 months.
• Only the business-value part of the purchase price counts as eligible personal investment, up to $150,000, and not professional fees or real estate.
• The applicant must also commit at least $50,000 of personal funds to improve, upgrade or expand the business, and must show the business is a going concern.
• The applicant must commit to maintain the number of existing jobs, as well as meeting the job-creation requirement.
• The guide warns against making investments or commitments before a performance agreement is signed and a work permit is obtained.

Details are in the Base Program Guide, effective May 27, 2024. Programs change, so check the official page.

Last reviewed: 2026-11-08.

If you are planning to apply, see our pages on the BC PNP business plan and business plans for immigration programs, and try the BC PNP points calculator. Wealth Theory prepares business plans and works with the immigration consultant or lawyer you choose.

Working with us

We can prepare the business plan and projections you need to assess a purchase or support a loan application. See business plans or contact us to book a consultation.