Vancouver Farmers Market calls for long-term permits, city planning
Maria Sinisterra/Shutterstock
Written By: Daisy Xiong
Source: Business in Vancouver
Market sales grew from $10M to $18M over five years
Vancouver Farmers Market is calling on the City of Vancouver to move away from annual event permits and recognize the organization as long-term civic infrastructure.
The organizer says the current system creates uncertainty despite rapid growth in demand for local food.
The Vancouver Farmers Market, which operates weekly farmers markets year-round at seven locations in the summer and two in the winter, reported $18 million in direct vendor sales in 2025, up from about $10 million five years earlier.
"We've absolutely seen an increased demand for local food and local products, and our markets are helping to facilitate those sales for our small businesses," said Laura Smit, executive director of Vancouver Farmers Market. "It's a really important part of the economic engine here in Vancouver."
What began in an East Vancouver parking lot 30 years ago has grown into a network of markets involving about 264 small farms and businesses, attracting 675,000 visits last year.
Despite that growth, the City of Vancouver continues to classify the farmers market as a special event, requiring the organization to apply for permits each year, which has posed great uncertainty to the organization, according to Smit.
"We're essentially asking for permission on an annual basis, not even like a three- to five- to 10-year basis, to operate our market in our location," she said.
"There are multiple permits, multiple jurisdictions and departments that we're pursuing those permits through, which really makes it difficult to plan ahead and embed the markets as the long-term … critical infrastructure that they actually are in the City of Vancouver."
Smit said a single market closure can cost vendors between $75,000 and $150,000 in lost sales. She added that securing long-term certainty has become increasingly important as Canada promotes buying local in response to U.S. tariffs.
Meanwhile, ongoing redevelopment across the city continues to put the markets at risk as they compete for space, she said.
"They are actually a place in our economy that is growing, that is vibrant, that is joyful," she said.
"We want to move from an annual permit cycle, where we are treated as a special event, to a more collaborative relationship where we are recognized as essential civic infrastructure."
The Vancouver Farmers Market takes place Wednesdays in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery adjacent to West Georgia Street. | Rob Kruyt, BIV
Smit said long-term recognition would also allow the organization to better plan its operations, invest in infrastructure and pursue national food-sector funding—the market's classification as a special event limits its eligibility for some funding programs.
"We would like to move to a longer-term planning and collaborative relationship with the City of Vancouver that really supports neighbourhoods and builds a vibrant economy in an intentional way," she said.
Market helps small businesses grow
For vendors, the market has become more than a place to sell products.
Tushar Shroff, owner of Indish Food Inc., said his business has grown significantly since joining Vancouver Farmers Market seven years ago. The plant-based Indian food catering company has expanded from a one-person truck operation to a company with about six employees.
Indish Food is now preparing to open a storefront in downtown Vancouver.
"We've been seeing that the markets are growing every year," Shroff said, adding that the weekly schedule has provided consistent exposure to customers.
"We wouldn't give it up for pretty much anything."
Shroff said the markets have become one of the company's most effective marketing channels while also providing valuable customer feedback.
"There's a community around it, and people who come there have the patience and the time to talk. It's almost like an extended gathering place where people have a weekly ritual," he said.
"You need some familiar faces every other week. They'll tell you what you're doing right and, if you listen carefully, what you're doing wrong."
He said making the markets a more permanent feature of the city would benefit both businesses such as his and the wider community.
"If we can put our voices together and emphasize how essential the Vancouver Farmers Markets are, and how essential it is to keep them going and make them a more permanent feature of the fabric of the city, it would go a long, long way for the community."
In a statement, the City of Vancouver said it does not currently offer multi-year permits for any special events because event operations and safety plans must be reviewed each time.
The city said planning for farmers markets requires balancing flexibility in public spaces with competing uses while considering operational, accessibility, neighbourhood and infrastructure needs.
"The city seeks ongoing opportunities to improve and streamline the permitting process," the statement said, adding that staff will continue working with the Vancouver Farmers Market as it renews conditional holds for its market locations.
Learn more about the the Vancouver Farmers Markets here.
