Independent retail and professional-service businesses anchor Nanaimo as mid-Vancouver Island's main service hub, alongside marine-industry operators — boat sales and service, marinas — and tourism and hospitality businesses built around ferry traffic and visitor trade. Marine assets and vessels bring their own ownership and registration questions on top of the usual purchase-and-sale work, and we scope the legal work that way from the first call.
Part of British Columbia — one provincial deal market, page by page.
Every figure below traces to a named public source — no estimates, no filler.
†Typical patterns across British Columbia deals — not a quote or advice; every deal is confirmed on its own facts.
The same sequence underlies almost every owner-run Nanaimo deal — what changes from deal to deal is how long each step takes.
Reaching an agreement
Buyer and seller agree on price and key terms, usually informally, before lawyers draft anything binding. We review before you sign — even a "non-binding" LOI can lock in terms you didn't mean to fix.
usually 1–2 weeks†The APS sets out price, structure (asset or share), conditions, and closing date. We draft or review it and negotiate the protections — reps, warranties, holdbacks — that actually matter for your deal.
1–3 weeks to negotiate†Corporate, PPSA lien, litigation, and licence searches confirm what you're actually buying. We chase the seller's lawyer, the registries, and any regulator whose sign-off your deal needs.
2–4 weeks, in parallel†Getting to closing
Landlord, franchisor, lender, and licensing-body sign-offs are chased in parallel with the paperwork. In Nanaimo a marine business adds vessel registration and moorage-agreement review on top of the usual PST and WorkSafeBC steps, so we start that review early.
often the critical path†Funds, keys, and signed documents change hands. We coordinate directly with both sides' lawyers and the lender so nothing is left to a last-minute phone call.
1 day, once conditions are met†Registrations, licence transfers still in progress, and any post-closing deliverables — like a holdback release — get tracked to completion, not left for you to chase.
1–2 week tail†This is the first real decision in almost every deal — and it changes what you're buying, what you're taking on, and how it's taxed.
| Question | Asset purchase | Share purchase |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | The business's assets — equipment, inventory, lease, goodwill, name. | The shares of the company itself — everything it owns, and everything it owes. |
| Seller's liabilities | Generally stay behind with the seller's corporation. | Generally come with the company, known and unknown. |
| Tax angle — seller | Straightforward proceeds treatment in most cases. | May qualify for the lifetime capital-gains exemption on qualifying small business shares. |
| Tax angle — buyer | A stepped-up cost base on assets bought; a GST s.167 election may apply, and BC PST can apply to some purchased assets. | Cost base carries over from the seller — a different position for the buyer. |
| Licences & contracts | Must generally be re-issued or assigned into the buyer's name. | Usually stay in place, since the corporation itself doesn't change. |
| Employees | Employment Standards Act continuity rules typically apply. | Employment generally continues uninterrupted — the employer doesn't change. |
| Typical use in Nanaimo | Most retail, marine and hospitality deals — the buyer takes the equipment and the lease, and plans for 7% BC PST on the tangible assets. | Seen with marina and marine-service operations, where moorage agreements and long-standing client relationships are the value. |
The business's assets — equipment, inventory, lease, goodwill, name.
The shares of the company itself — everything it owns, and everything it owes.
Generally stay behind with the seller's corporation.
Generally come with the company, known and unknown.
Straightforward proceeds treatment in most cases.
May qualify for the lifetime capital-gains exemption on qualifying small business shares.
A stepped-up cost base on assets bought; a GST s.167 election may apply, and BC PST can apply to some purchased assets.
Cost base carries over from the seller — a different position for the buyer.
Must generally be re-issued or assigned into the buyer's name.
Usually stay in place, since the corporation itself doesn't change.
Employment Standards Act continuity rules typically apply.
Employment generally continues uninterrupted — the employer doesn't change.
Most retail, marine and hospitality deals — the buyer takes the equipment and the lease, and plans for 7% BC PST on the tangible assets.
Seen with marina and marine-service operations, where moorage agreements and long-standing client relationships are the value.
We tell you which structure fits — before you sign anything.
Different lists depending on which side of the deal you're on — both matter for how smoothly closing goes.
No open-ended hourly surprises — the cost is confirmed in writing before any work begins.
| Type of work | Fee | How it's confirmed |
|---|---|---|
| Straightforward purchase or sale | Starting from $3,388.87 Our charges · taxes included | Confirmed in writing once we see the agreement. |
| Larger or more complex deal | Quoted to scope | Short call → fixed written quote before any work begins. |
| Searches, filings & third-party fees | At cost | Itemized on your invoice, not marked up. |
A café or restaurant, a salon, a franchise unit, or a trades business in Nanaimo — usually one buyer, one seller.
Start my file →A company with several owners or employees, bank financing, real estate, or a deal that needs negotiated protections before you sign.
Book a consultation →Not sure which you are? That's our job to figure out, not yours. As a rough guide, most deals under a couple of million dollars are the first kind — above that, you're usually in Mergers & Acquisitions territory.
Neighbouring pages in the same regional deal market.
The regional picture — consents, sectors and the full municipal web.
Vancouver's small-business ownership base is concentrated in restaurants and hospitality, professional services such as legal, accounting, and consulting firms serving a dense downtown core, and technology, alongside import-export and logistics operations tied to the Port of Vancouver's Asia-Pacific trade.
As British Columbia's provincial capital, Victoria's small-business market includes tourism and hospitality operators serving a seasonal visitor base, including cruise ship arrivals, professional services firms working alongside government and legal institutions, and a smaller but active technology sector.
Kelowna's Okanagan Valley location supports a small-business base built around wineries and agri-tourism, tourism and hospitality tied to lake recreation, and orchard and vineyard agriculture, alongside construction and trades businesses that have grown with the region's population increase.
Owner-run trades and construction firms, trucking, warehousing and logistics operations — Surrey sits on major trucking corridors near the US border and Highway 1 — and a large multicultural food service, grocery and retail sector tied to the city's South Asian and broader immigrant business community make up most small-business changeovers.
Independent retail and restaurant operators anchor Metrotown and other retail centres, alongside a light-industrial and warehousing base.
Owner-run trade, food service, and retail businesses cluster around Asia-Pacific commerce and Vancouver International Airport, with restaurants, grocery and specialty retail, and logistics and distribution operations tied to airport cargo and cross-border trade changing hands most often.
Agriculture and agri-food businesses — dairy, poultry, berry farms, greenhouses, and food processors — dominate small-business transfers, alongside trades and construction contractors and transportation and trucking operations serving the Fraser Valley.
Retail and food-service operators around the Town Centre and big-box commercial nodes, along with trades and construction contractors and light-industrial businesses near the Fraser Mills and Maillardville area, make up the bulk of local owner-run business sales.
Agriculture operations — farms, nurseries, wineries — within the Township's Agricultural Land Reserve, equestrian-industry businesses from boarding to tack and feed suppliers, and trades, construction and retail businesses are the most common owner-run businesses changing hands.
As a transportation and distribution hub at the junction of two major highways and rail lines, trucking and logistics operators feature heavily in local business sales, alongside resource-services businesses supporting forestry and mining, and a tourism sector spanning hospitality, wineries, and outdoor recreation.
Forestry and resource-services businesses — sawmill-adjacent suppliers, equipment dealers, and trucking contractors — anchor the local economy, and the city's role as the main supply and service hub for northern BC supports a base of wholesale, distribution and trades businesses.
Boats, marina equipment and moorage agreements each come with their own ownership and registration questions that a standard asset purchase agreement doesn't cover on its own. We confirm vessel registration and any moorage or slip agreements transfer before you commit to closing.
Often, yes — ferry traffic and visitor season drive a lot of Nanaimo's tourism revenue, so we look at a full year of financials rather than a summer quarter, and sequence the closing so you're not mid-transition when the season peaks.
Confirm whether the waterfront or marina lease sits with a private landlord or a public authority — public waterfront tenancies can carry different use and assignment terms than a typical commercial lease. That distinction changes how much lead time the assignment needs.
The mechanics are more conventional — a standard lease assignment and, for professional practices, a look at client contracts and any consent-to-assign clauses. Nanaimo's role as the main service hub for mid-Vancouver Island means a steady client base is often the real asset.
Generally yes — used tangible assets like boats, marina equipment and fixtures are taxable at 7% in an asset deal unless an exemption applies, while goodwill sits outside PST. It's a known number, so we put it on the closing statement from day one.
BC's Employment Standards Act treats employment as continuous on a sale — service with the old employer counts with the new one, so notice and severance entitlements carry forward. On a seasonal tourism or marine payroll that history is a real number, and we make sure it's in the deal math.
| Resource | Official link |
|---|---|
| LCRB — transfer a liquor licence Licensed venues | Visit www2.gov.bc.ca |
| PST on buying or selling a business Provincial PST bulletin | Visit www2.gov.bc.ca |
| WorkSafeBC clearance letters Successor-liability protection | Visit www.worksafebc.com |
| BC Registries and Online Services Corporate searches & filings | Visit www2.gov.bc.ca |
Industries we cover
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Serving Nanaimo.
Tell us about your Nanaimo deal — we'll point you the right way and confirm the cost in writing before any work begins.