A mobile vendor in Sylvan Lake. (Town of Sylvan Lake)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

reducing red tape

Changes coming to Sylvan Lake’s busking and mobile vending regulations

Feb 14, 2025 | 11:52 AM

Sylvan Lake is making some changes to the way mobile vendors and buskers are regulated.

The pair of business models have become an important part of Sylvan’s tourism industry over the last several years, so changes are always meant to enhance the way in which those people can engage with the community, says Monique Callicott, director, recreations, culture and tourism, at the town of Sylvan Lake.

The most fundamental change is removing all busking regulations from the Mobile Vending Bylaw, and creating a new Busking Bylaw.

It’s also proposed that the hours for mobile vending be changed so that they end at 10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.

On the busking side, buskers who are 16 or younger would require a parent or guardian to co-sign, and businesses who wish to hire a busker will need to fill out a simple form. The latter is something that would currently fall under the town’s special events policies.

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“It’s really important we focus on the culture of our community, and really make it easy for people to do business with us,” says Callicott.

“It comes down to reducing as much a red tape as we can. When we get feedback from individuals or businesses, we’re really responsive to that; these changes are really simple, so why wouldn’t we make them? If we can make people’s lives easier, its really a win-win.”

Callicott says there haven’t been any younger buskers, so the new co-sign rule is simply the town being proactive.

In 2024, the town had 38 buskers, up from 30 in 2023. There were seven mobile vendors last year.

These changes received first reading from town council on Feb. 10, with final readings to come at a future meeting.