Microproduct Data GuideBeginner

Vancouver Business Licences

Business licence categories, statuses, dates, locations, and employment counts for building local commercial activity and churn monitors.

Start the Guide Open Official Source Open in Colab
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At a Glance

Difficulty
Beginner — comfortable for a first prototype
Size
Small · 0.03–0.5 GB
Formats
CSV, JSON, GeoJSON
Access
Download and API
API Key
Not Required
Provider
City of Vancouver
Updates
Daily
Last Verified
Sep 3, 2026
Source Type
Government Source
Data Terms
Open Government Licence - Vancouver
  • Python Syntax Checked
  • Runnable Notebook

From Source to Product Signal

Test a Product Idea in Four Steps

Start with one business type and a small page of current licence records. Categories changed in May 2024, home-based business addresses can be withheld, and licence records do not prove that a business is operating.

1

Check the Setup

  • Python 3.10 or newer
  • A notebook environment such as Jupyter or Google Colab
  • An internet connection
2

Access the Data

  1. 1.Open the official dataset page and review the category-change and privacy notes.
  2. 2.Query a bounded page through the OpenDataSoft API.
  3. 3.Keep the unique licence identifier, category, status, dates, local area, and employee count.
Open Official Source
3

Run the Python Example

Install the packages, then run the notebook cell.

python -m pip install pandas requests

import pandas as pd
import requests

url = "https://opendata.vancouver.ca/api/explore/v2.1/catalog/datasets/business-licences/records"
response = requests.get(
    url,
    params={"limit": 100, "order_by": "issueddate DESC"},
    timeout=30,
)
response.raise_for_status()
licences = pd.json_normalize(response.json()["results"])
columns = [
    "licencersn",
    "businesstype",
    "businesssubtype",
    "status",
    "issueddate",
    "localarea",
    "numberofemployees",
]
print(licences[columns].head())
4

Test a Useful Signal

Track Business Licence Activity

Test whether current licence records can support a neighbourhood commercial activity monitor.

  1. 01Count issued records by business type and local area.
  2. 02Compare issue dates and reported employee counts for the largest groups.
  3. 03Explain why category changes, withheld addresses, and licence status limit conclusions about openings and closures.

Related Datasets

Dataset Details

City of Vancouver is a government source. Last verified 2026-09-03. Temporal coverage: 1997-present across linked datasets.

Provider

City of Vancouver

Data Terms

Open Government Licence - Vancouver

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