Vancouver council approves wine sales in grocery stores that meet requirements

Vancouver’s city council approved amendments Thursday to the bylaws to allow the sale of wine on grocery store shelves in the city.

However, only grocery stores larger than 10,000 square feet with both a provincial wine store licence and a municipal business licence can sell wine as long as they meet provincial requirements.

The staff conducting the sale of the wine must also be at least 19 years old and possess a valid Serving it Right certificate.

The store must also have an approved security plan.

“The convenience of purchasing wine while grocery shopping has been accessible to many British Columbians for quite some time,” said Mayor Ken Sim in a release.

0:38 Vancouver city council votes to allow sale of wine in grocery stores

Five years ago, Vancouver allowed grocery stores to set up separate liquor operations in their locations but only one store did so.

However, the province has only issued 33 wine-on-shelf permits in just 20 communities across B.C., and has frozen any new permits. Thus, any licences in Vancouver would have to be moved from another community.

Vancouver city staff said in a report that based on feedback from existing licencees, they anticipate some interest in businesses relocating to Vancouver to sell wine, but “not a large uptake at this time.”

— with files from Darrian Matassa-Fung