Inspection sweeps hit Vancouver nightlife venues: Necessary scrutiny or overkill?

Vancouver nightlife operators say recent enforcement action targeting several venues seems like overkill. But city officials insist the scrutiny is needed to ensure safety ahead of major events, such as the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and to avoid tragedies like the New Year’s Eve bar fire in Switzerland that killed 40 people.

The most recent enforcement blitz took place on Dec. 13, when Vancouver fire and police officials, joined by inspectors from the provincial liquor and cannabis regulation branch, visited six venues and issued eight tickets for “operating unsafely or in contravention of applicable bylaws and regulations.”

Among the venues targeted that night was the Birdhouse, a queer performing arts and nightlife space in Mount Pleasant, which held both a temporary liquor permit and a municipal arts event licence. Co-owner Ryn Broz said it was unfair for the venue to be treated like a rogue, unlicensed operation.

“We’ve had inspectors come by many times before,” she said. “This was different. It felt like a raid.”

Eight officials, including four Vancouver police officers, moved past guests and hired security into the warehouse space, shining flashlights and filming the dance floor, Broz said.

“It happened during a queer women’s night,” said Broz. “We had guests leave because of it.”

The owners say the building has a fire alarm and sprinkler system, and they have installed push bars on exits, kept extra fire extinguishers, adhered to a 400-person capacity limit, and maintained ongoing collaboration with municipal bylaw officials.

“We have always strived to work alongside the city in making our events as safe as possible,” Broz said. “This has left us asking: What all of a sudden has changed?”

During the Dec. 13 sweep, Broz said the Birdhouse was hit with two municipal tickets for fire bylaw violations, one of which was for having an emergency exit locked with a digital code, with fines totalling more than $1,000. Birdhouse co-owner Paige Frewer said this week a fire official revoked the second violation, which had been issued for a missing panel in a drop-down ceiling over a staff-only area that had been damaged by water.

In a joint statement, the city and Vancouver Fire Rescue Services told Postmedia they wouldn’t identify the six venues that were targeted that day, citing privacy reasons. But they confirmed three of the venues were cited for operating without a municipal business licence. The other three were ticketed for failing to meet business licence or fire safety requirements.

The statement said the inspections were part of a safety blitz targeting venues flagged for potential life-safety and fire hazards, including overcrowding, blocked emergency exits, and those operating without approval. They said venues chosen for inspection were selected “primarily based on public complaints.”

“Holding a business licence does not exempt a venue from critical fire and life-safety requirements,” the statement added. “Our goal is to prevent harm before it occurs and ensure people can enjoy Vancouver’s nightlife safely.”

Since June 2025, 48 coordinated inspections have been carried out, resulting in 31 municipal tickets for violations of fire and city licence bylaws. Enforcement can include fines, prosecution, immediate closures and the seizure of liquor for venues found in breach of city or provincial regulations, according to a Dec. 19 news release.

Coun. Mike Klassen noted the recent fire at a crowded Swiss bar that killed 40 people and injured more than 100.

“We’re going into FIFA with the world coming here this summer,” Klassen said. “We have an opportunity to get it right so that what happened in Switzerland doesn’t happen in Vancouver.”

But some independent operators say the crackdown has exposed a deeper problem: Even venues with temporary permits can be swept up alongside unlicensed parties, and without a clearer path to permanent cabaret licences, legitimate nightlife spaces remain treated like rogue operators despite good-faith efforts to follow the rules.

“We operate Birdhouse because we love it, not because it’s profitable,” said Broz. The venue’s provincial special events liquor permit allows a limited number of events per month, which the owners say is enough to operate queer nightlife events legally, but not enough to cover the building’s rent and rising operational costs.

Birdhouse has relocated multiple times over the past several years to buildings on the brink of demolition in search of affordable rent, Broz said.

“Unless we had a million dollars, it would have been impossible to open up a place like Birdhouse with a permanent liquor licence.”

Currently, applying for a cabaret-use business licence costs thousands of dollars upfront, not including consultation fees, city inspections and the months-long approval process.

Nathan Drillot, co-owner of the Disco Dolly party series, said the crackdown is pushing non-mainstream nightlife back into the shadows and criticized the city for rolling back progress that had made occasional events in non-traditional spaces possible.

The past decade brought municipal changes, including simplified arts and culture licensing for occasional events and later last-call hours — signs that Vancouver was finally recognizing nightlife as part of its cultural identity, Drillot said.

“We thought we could be out of the shadows,” he added. “But now everyone is going back to how they used to be, not advertising events publicly on social media or event listings, just relying on word of mouth.”

Drillot says enforcement feels uneven across the city’s nightlife scene.

Safety isn’t just about exits and sprinklers, he said, describing harm-reduction measures at venues like the Birdhouse that often go beyond mainstream clubs, from drug testing to clear codes of conduct to buddy systems and on-site support for guests who feel unsafe.

“Just watch all the fights happening on the Granville Strip on any given Friday and Saturday, and you’ll see the safety of some permanently licensed nightlife venues.”

The timing of the crackdown, operators say, could not be worse.

High rents and waning attendance are already cramping Vancouver nightlife. Many venues that cannot afford a permanent liquor licence resort to patching together income from artist workshops or photo shoots to cover costs, Drillot said.

Drillot, who previously operated Disco Dolly from a permanent space, said he and his partner, Nikki Mclean, could not afford to go through the lengthy process to obtain a municipal cabaret use business licence.

“If the city really wants safer nightlife events, give us a path to legitimacy. Make licensing accessible. Reduce the red tape for independent operators and bring things into the light,” he said.

Without easier access to these city designations, Drillot and others worry Vancouver risks losing the very culture it has spent years building, including diverse events that attract both locals and tourists.

“If we don’t break this chain,” Drillot said, “we’re going to end up with a nightlife scene controlled by a few big companies — and a whole generation of artists and organizers pushed out of the city.”

sgrochowski@postmedia.com