Short answer: a vending machine for a church works when the building is used through the week, not just on worship days, and the simplest setup for a charity is a machine an operator owns, stocks and services. The church provides a spot and an outlet (about $15–20 a month in power for a drink machine); the operator covers the machine, install, stocking, service and removal at $0 to you, and is the seller for tax purposes. If a church wants to run its own machine instead, CRA's related-business rules and GST/HST rules for charities come into play.
This guide is for church councils, administrators and facility volunteers, and the same rules apply to mosques, temples, gurdwaras and other places of worship that are registered charities in British Columbia.
How many faith centres, and how busy
Our Lead Finder's January 2026 run found 145 faith centre listings: 73 in Burnaby and 72 in Richmond, within 5 km of each city centre.
| Faith centre listings, January 2026 | Burnaby | Richmond |
|---|---|---|
| Listings (with an address in the city) | 73 | 72 |
| Median Google reviews (of those with a count) | 19 | 22.5 |
| With 100 or more reviews | 12 | 10 |
| With a website listed | 63 | 66 |
| Most common listed type | church (50) | church (48) |
VendFynd analysis of 145 faith centre listings found in Burnaby and Richmond, January 2026.
Review counts are only a rough proxy for visitors, but the spread is clear. Most congregations are small: a median of about 20 reviews, against 124 for Burnaby clinics in the same run. Only 22 of 145 have 100 or more. The larger ones tend to be buildings that run programs all week, which is exactly where a machine gets used.
When a church building works for a machine
A machine needs people on site on ordinary days. Count them honestly:
- Weekday programs: a daycare or preschool, after-school and youth groups, seniors' lunches, language or music classes, recovery meetings.
- Hall rentals: community groups, sports or dance classes, events on weekends.
- Staff and volunteers: office staff, caretakers, food-bank volunteers.
- Worship days: big but short. A machine that only sells on one day a week rarely justifies a full-size install.
If the weekday count is around 30 to 40 people, it's worth asking. Our site-fit scorer gives a quick score from your numbers.
The charity rules, from CRA's own pages
Related business. CRA's policy statement CPS-019 says a registered charity may carry on only a related business, of two kinds: one where substantially all the people running it are unpaid volunteers ("as a rule-of-thumb, 'substantially all' means 90%"), or one that is linked and subordinate to the charity's purpose. CRA's examples of linked businesses include hospital cafeterias "for the use of patients, visitors, and staff", and "a church has a parking lot ... It can rent out its parking spaces during the week as a related business." CRA also says a one-off arrangement isn't "carrying on" a business, but regular daily or weekly sales are.
What that means in practice: a church buying its own machine and stocking it with paid help is the case that needs thought. A machine run by an outside operator keeps the church out of the selling business.
GST/HST. CRA's guide for charities says "most supplies made by charities are exempt", but sales of "new goods that you bought ... to resell" for more than their direct cost are taxable. A charity is a small supplier, and need not register, if its taxable supplies are $50,000 or less, or under CRA's alternative test of a $250,000 cap on gross revenue. With an operator, the operator sells the stock and handles the tax.
PST. BC's Ministry of Finance says PST applies to "all beverages dispensed by a vending machine or similar equipment, unless the machine does not dispense any soda beverages". A water, juice and milk machine keeps those drinks outside PST (PST and GST on vending).
Food safety. Sealed, shelf-stable drinks and snacks are outside BC's Food Premises Regulation (s.2(e)), so no health permit is needed for the machine.
City licences
Each machine needs a city licence, which the operator normally holds and pays: Richmond charges $37.50 per machine, and Burnaby $39 for a coin machine or $112 for a card machine in 2026, rising to $41 and $117 on January 1, 2027. More cities are in our licence fee guide.
Setting it up
- Pick the spot with the people who use it. A hall foyer or the corridor by the gym or classrooms, away from the sanctuary and clear of exits.
- Agree the menu. Your people choose: water, juice, lower-sugar drinks and snacks, and anything your community asks for. Say so if you want no soda, or a menu that respects your community's dietary rules.
- Think about children. If a daycare or youth group uses the building, decide together where the machine goes and what's in it.
- Card and coin. Card readers mean no cash for volunteers to handle; keep coin if many users are older.
- Decide on commission. Most locations receive one, agreed in writing before install. Some churches prefer lower prices instead.
- Read the terms. Month to month, 30 days' notice, no-cost removal, as in our host terms. Compare offers with the vending agreement checklist.
With VendFynd, your administrator has one contact for jams, refunds and product requests. We reply within 1 business day, and if an operator keeps missing restocks, we bring in a different one. See if your building qualifies.
About this data
- Faith centre counts: VendFynd Lead Finder (earlier CLI version), January 2026: Google Places listings within 5 km of each city centre under our faith centres category, kept only if the address is in Burnaby or Richmond. Medians use listings with a review count (72 of 73 in Burnaby, 70 of 72 in Richmond). Published as aggregates only.
- Rules: CRA CPS-019 (effective March 31, 2003) and RC4082, read on canada.ca; BC Notice 2021-002; Burnaby Bylaw 14485 Schedule A2 (with Amendment Bylaw 14850, in effect January 1, 2027); Richmond Bylaw 8636. All read 2026-10-12.
- Limits: review counts measure online attention, not attendance. This is general information, not tax or legal advice; ask your accountant how your charity should treat any commission.
Sources
- CRA, CPS-019 What is a related business?: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/policies-guidance/policy-statement-019-what-a-related-business.html
- CRA, RC4082 GST/HST Information for Charities: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/publications/rc4082/gst-hst-information-charities.html
- BC Ministry of Finance, Notice 2021-002: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/publications/notice-2021-002-sellers-soda-beverages.pdf
- City of Burnaby, Consolidated Fees and Charges Bylaw No. 14485: https://bylaws.burnaby.ca/media/Consolidated/14485CC.pdf
- City of Richmond, Consolidated Fees Bylaw No. 8636: https://www.richmond.ca/__shared/assets/BL_8636_Consolidated_with_ABLs_10699__10702_and_10720_11102578073.pdf
- Food Premises Regulation, B.C. Reg. 210/99: https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/210_99