When it comes to doing business on the North Shore of Vancouver British Columbia Canada there are a few unique things to keep in mind. Most of your staff who will work jobs at in person roles will be commuting from out of the area daily as many of them cannot afford to live locally and there is a shortage of rental apartments. The second thing is that transportation to and from the area during peak times of rush hour can pose a risk for your employees arriving on time, given the 2 bridges are often overwhelmed with vehicles. Lastly, the covid19 pandemic has created somewhat of a bottleneck with using public transportation with the seabus and rapid bus that goes through the Lower Lonsdale Shipyards District. As a result you may want to allow your human resources to work remotely from their home office.
In this magazine feature we are going to outline and highlight all of the necessary business resources you will need to plan, start, license and operate your local business. Including aspects from the local Government and City websites as well as rules of thumb coming directly from us to you. At Lonsdale Avenue Magazine we work hard to support local business owners and entrepreneurs to get the most from their time spent doing commerce on the North Shore. At the bottom of the article we have information about consulting and marketing that we can offer to you to streamline and grow your business. Over the past 2 years we have helped over 650 businesses to expand their customer reach and generally make their businesses more efficient. We offer video conference calls for business workshops to train and educate you and your staff and answer all of your questions in real-time.
Businesses in the City of North Vancouver
Starting a Business – the main areas for opening a business are generally in and around the Lonsdale Avenue corridor, across the waterfront in the Shipyards District and up and down the side streets from Esplanade up through Central Lonsdale
Local Business Licenses – you will need to work with City Hall to get a local business license and fill out their forms and details for them to review your application, you can have a license for people who live locally as well as one for those who may not live here but want to do business in the City, to get questions answered you may contact 604-983-7356 or licence@cnv.org
Operating a Business – as mentioned at the top of the article, some of the main factors for running your company include staffing and transportation, but you will also want to join the Chamber of Commerce and build your local network of contacts and friends, it’s also best to write a business plan and have it reviewed by a third party consultant on the North Shore
Directory of Businesses – before you go into business for yourself or relocate locally here it’s wise to look through the local directories on NorthVancouver.com, The Shipyards District and the one within the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce to see who and what is happening in the City
Businesses in the District of North Vancouver
Starting a Business – some of the major areas in the District include but are not limited to Edgemont Village, Lynn Valley Village, the Village of Deep Cove, through the Capilano River District, near and around the base of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge
Local Business Licenses – getting setup with your local business license is done so through the District office directly using the phone, their website or email, and you may also want to speak with them to have your questions answered using 604-990-2311 or businesslicences@dnv.org
Operating a Business – the District is quite vast and far reaching and as a result you will want to do your operations and marketing somewhat differently then operating in the City, but the good news is that the Chamber of Commerce and District offices have good resources for you
Directory of Businesses – there are a few places to do research and check out local businesses and that is on NorthVancouver.com as well as the Chamber of Commerce websites, unlike the City there is not a Business Improvement Association (BIA)
Businesses in West Vancouver
Starting a Business – as you may or may not know, this community is one of the most expensive for business leases and general property value anywhere in Canada, so you will need to do lots of research in advance of opening, it stretches from Horseshoe Bay across the waterfront of Ambleside to the base of Lions Gate Bridge and up to Cypress Mountain
Local Business Licenses – can be purchased and registered through the main office for West Vancouver and as with the City and District of North Vancouver you will need to go through a review and approval process, which is a little more in depth then the above 2 areas, contact 604-925-7000 or info@westvancouver.ca with your questions
Operating a Business – this can be a bit tricky given most of your staff will likely live out of the area as mentioned in the beginning of the article, but the good news is there are tons of buses that come over the Lions Gate Bridge every 15 minutes or so, allowing your staff to make it to work on time 7 days a week, at the moment there are a decent amount of Commercial lease spaces in and around Marine Drive
Directory of Businesses – it’s always smart to do some ground work as we have mentioned and see who and what is operating in the area before deciding to go into business for yourself or relocate here, so make sure to check out WestVancouver.com and the West Vancouver Chamber of Commerce
Marketing Your Business
We have a few options for you in this area, you can read our section for Marketing in North Vancouver and Marketing in West Vancouver
Business Consulting
We love to help local business owners navigate growth and profits, checkout our business consulting and marketing workshop pages for additional information
useful Business Links
To close out this resource style article we have compiled some website links below that are worth reading
- Government of British Columbia
- Small Business British Columbia
- British Columbia Business Registry
- Business Council of British Columbia
- WorkBC Loans, Grants and Funding
- BC Centre for Disease Control
- BC Financing and Advisory Services
- British Columbia Chamber of Commerce
- Canada Business App for iPhone and Android
- eServices for Canadian Businesses
- Businesses for Sale in British Columbia
- Small Business BC Awards