Our 2024 research, The High Cost of Doing Business in Vancouver, found that increasing costs threatened the survival of City of Vancouver businesses. In B.C., 52% of businesses reported they wouldn’t last beyond four years if things didn’t change (compared with 59% in Vancouver). This already significant burden increased in 2025 due to economic instability resulting from U.S. tariffs, increased input costs, a lack of consumer confidence, and the loss of the de minimis exemption. From July to November 2025, we tracked media stories reporting business closures. Our sources were: CBC News, Global News BC, CTV News, The Globe and Mail, The Vancouver Sun, Daily Hive, Vancouver is Awesome, and small business social media accounts. We also consulted staff at the City of Vancouver responsible for tracking openings and closings of retail-zoned storefronts as part of the City’s annual Storefronts Report. Here's what we found:
- We identified 257 businesses that publicly reported closures in 2024 and 2025, mostly restaurants in the Greater Vancouver area. Financial conditions were the top reason for closure, followed by personal or family reasons, and lease and landlord issues.
- The City of Vancouver has tracked the closure of almost 3 000 businesses since 2020, 820 of them in 2024 (2025 is not yet available).
- Longstanding community favourites like Floata Seafood Restaurant (30 years), Cartems Donuts (14 years), and Virtuous Pie (10 years) have closed, indicating that longevity does not guarantee survival in current market conditions.
