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on the road in the city where requests for food truck permits have soared

“It’s largely settled down,” said Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president of Western Canada at Restaurants Canada. “Generally, the two are coexisting quite well.”

Some cities are still trying to find policies that work for them.

In Halifax, the system allows food truck operators to bid on 11 designated spots around the city, but despite having at least 16 trucks operating, only eight of the spots are taken.

Montreal also has unfilled food truck slots, with only about 25 trucks operating as hopeful vendors face a lengthy application process. In Vancouver, where there’s a 100-metre buffer rule between restaurants and trucks selling similar food, the industry appears to be thriving.

The hundred or so permits available for mobile vending downtown — which includes everything from Asian fusion food trucks to hotdog carts — have all been snapped up, and the city has also issued another 45 roaming permits that exclude the downtown.

Despite the competition, some new entrants are finding plenty of room for growth.

“It’s going really well,” said Rotem Tal, who co-founded The Chickpea Truck in Vancouver earlier this year.

“We’ve moved from a small kitchen that we rented out, to our own kitchen; from working a few times a week at our downtown spot, to hiring employees and doing a bunch of events in the morning and evening.”

With a booming B.C. economy, Tal says the truck was profitable after the first month, employs 12 employees working various hours and is now booked until the end of September.

Back in Calgary, where the downturn that spurred Guardado to open his QueChivo food truck continues, getting a business going is a bit tougher.

“People are being a little more conservative with their spending, so there is a little bit of a slowdown on people eating out,” said Guardado. “It’s a startup right now, so we’re not making any money, but we are covering costs.”

Despite the challenges, he’s optimistic.

“I believe it’s going really well,” said Guardado. “I mean, we’ve had tough days but, overall, we’ve had really good days.”

There’s some competition, just like in any other restaurant, but I wouldn’t say we’re stepping all over each other and fighting for it.

FILES Food truck pioneer Zane Caplansky, owner of Caplansky’s Deli, set up shop at the 2016 Calgary Stampede. Caplansky helped rid Toronto of its “repressive” restrictions on food trucks.

JEFF McINTOSH/THE CANADIAN PRESS Emmanuel Guardado, who hit Calgary’s roads with his QueChivo food truck in April, set up in a Calgary park on Friday. Guardado dishes up the spicy street foods of his homeland, El Salvador.