How to Start a Bakery in Montreal

The short answer

A bakery in Montreal needs two permits before it opens: an occupancy permit from the borough, and a food permit from MAPAQ. The occupancy permit, called a certificat d'occupation in French, is the City's permission to run a commercial activity at that address. The food permit is the province's permission to prepare food for sale, issued by the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ). On top of both, Quebec requires a named person in the bakery to hold food hygiene training, and the bakery to keep a register of trained staff. Register the business with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec (REQ) first, so the business has its numéro d'entreprise du Québec (NEQ) when the permit applications ask for it.

French program and permit names appear once in this guide, in italics, with English throughout. The rest of the guide is in English.

Step 1: Check the borough before you sign anything

Montreal is divided into boroughs, and the borough's permit counter issues the occupancy permit. Before renting or buying a premises, first make sure that the activity you want is permitted there. Some boroughs also cap the number of bars, restaurants, and artisanal breweries per street segment under borough by-laws, so check whether a quota still allows a food business on the street you want. The City's occupancy permit page links the quota list and the maps of restaurant, bar, and artisanal brewery zones.

If the space needs work, a renovation or alteration permit is also needed when you plan to carry out work, when the premises have been changed since the last occupancy permit was issued, or when the activity has changed since the last occupancy permit. The full building permit steps are in our How to Get a Building Permit in Montreal guide.

Step 2: Get the occupancy permit

You must get an occupancy permit, also called a certificate of occupancy, to conduct a commercial or industrial activity in a building for purposes other than housing. The permit is attached to both the occupied establishment and its operator. It stays valid for as long as there is no change of operator and the activities it was issued for are conducted under the same conditions on the same premises. A new permit is required if there is a change of operator, a change in the area of the premises, a change in the activities, or if activities are added.

Apply to the permit counter of your borough. You need an account to use the online service, and because you are applying on behalf of an organization, you must also have an organization profile. Payment is by credit card (MasterCard or Visa). You can also go in person to the permit counter to get the form, then send the completed form by postal mail with your payment and the required documents.

The required documents are:

• Proof of property ownership.
• Authorization from the building owner or co-ownership syndicate.
• A document certifying the legal existence of the business, such as the company charter and declaration of company name.
• A layout plan for the premises.

If applicable, also include a power of attorney signed by the operator authorizing you to submit the application, a document certifying non-profit status if the application is for a non-profit organization, and a renovation or alteration permit if you plan to carry out work or the premises or the activity has changed since the last occupancy permit.

The fee depends on the borough. The City's page shows different processing fees for different boroughs, so check your borough's section of the page before paying, rather than budgeting from another borough's figure.

Do not sit on the occupancy permit

The occupancy permit has a clock on it. The City's page states for some boroughs that a certificate of occupancy becomes invalid if the occupancy does not take place within three months of the permit issue date — so do not apply months ahead of a fit-out you have not started. Time the application to the build-out, and move in within the three months.

The fee is also set borough by borough: the borough sections shown on the City's page list amounts from $100 to $317, taxes included, and the fees are non-refundable in the sections shown. Confirm the exact fee at your own borough's permit counter before you budget.

Step 3: Name the person responsible for hygiene

Before the bakery opens, name the person who will be responsible for controlling hygiene and food safety in the establishment. That person must hold the attestation of training called Gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire (food establishment manager). It can be you, or a person you trust in the organization.

Then choose one of two options for coverage:

• Option 1. The named person is present during the hours staff are active. If they are not present, at least one employee holding either the Gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire attestation or the Manipulateur d'aliments (food handler) attestation must be present.
• Option 2. At least 10% of staff hold a Gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire or Manipulateur d'aliments attestation. With this option, no attestation holder has to be present on site.

Either way, keep a register in the establishment listing the names of the people holding a food hygiene and food safety attestation, the total number of people assigned to preparing food or cleaning equipment in contact with food, and the name of the person responsible for controlling hygiene and food safety. The register must be kept in the establishment. When a trained person leaves the organization, their name must stay on the register for 12 months.

Step 4: Apply for the MAPAQ food permit

Apply in writing to MAPAQ. Every application for a food permit must contain:

• The applicant's name, address, and telephone number — or, for a sole proprietorship, partnership, or legal person, its name and telephone number, the address of its principal establishment, and the business number assigned under the Act respecting the legal publicity of enterprises (the NEQ).
• The name under which the premises or vehicle will be operated, and its address or registration number.
• The activities the applicant plans to carry on.
• For the purpose of establishing the fees, the total number of hot or cold units containing food offered to consumers in a self-service environment.

Every permit application must be accompanied by payment to the Minister of Finance of the fees for the issue of each permit, and by payment of the costs for opening a file.

The fees are set in the Regulation respecting food (chapter P-29, r. 1), section 1.3.6.7. For a permit to operate premises where food is prepared to be sold at retail, the fee is $351 for a general preparation permit and $270 for a keep hot or cold permit. For a permit to operate premises where restaurateur activities are carried on, the fee is $351 for general preparation without a buffet, $540 for general preparation with a buffet, $270 for keep hot or cold without a buffet, and $540 for keep hot or cold with a buffet. Where there are more than five hot or cold units holding food for consumers in a self-service environment, the fee is increased by $13 per unit. The costs for opening a file are $137 for each permit application, and $137 only if one application covers more than one permit. These are the figures as set in the regulation, and the regulation indexes the fees on April 1 of each year according to the All-Items Consumer Price Index for Canada — confirm the current indexed amount with MAPAQ before paying.

Which class the bakery falls into depends on the activities described in the application: a bakery selling its own baked goods at retail is a retail preparation, while a bakery with seating serving food on site is a restaurateur activity. Describe the planned activities accurately, because the class follows the activities.

Step 5: Build the premises and the label routine to Quebec rules

The food regulation sets the hygiene rules the premises must meet. The premises, area, equipment, material, or vehicle used for preparing products for sale must be used exclusively for product preparation. Preparation must be carried on somewhere other than a household kitchen where products are prepared for the wholesale market, where products are prepared in a quantity greater than 100 kg per month, or where the prepared products are dairy products or dairy product substitutes. A bakery selling more than 100 kg a month needs a separate preparation space, not a home kitchen.

Holding temperatures are set in the regulation: products that spoil with heat must be cooled without delay and kept at 4°C or below until delivered to the consumer; a perishable product sold or served hot must be kept at 60°C or above until delivery; and frozen products must be kept at minus 18°C or below.

Packaged goods sold from the bakery also need federal labelling: a common name, net quantity, ingredient list, allergen declaration, and dealer name and address, in both official languages, with a Nutrition Facts table unless an exemption applies. The full labelling routine is in our How to Start a Bakery Business in Canada guide. This guide does not repeat it.

Step 6: Register the business and the taxes

Register the business with the Registraire des entreprises du Québec (REQ) to get the NEQ, which the MAPAQ application asks for. The full steps are in our How to Register a Business in Quebec: the REQ, Your NEQ, and the French-Language Rules guide. Quebec's French-language rules for businesses are covered in our How to Start Meeting Quebec's French-Language Requirements for Your Business guide. Register for the GST and QST with Revenu Québec as well, and do it before the first taxable sale where registration is required.

What the opened pages do not state

The opened pages do not state the current indexed MAPAQ fee amounts — the regulation's figures are base amounts indexed each April 1 — so confirm the amount with MAPAQ before paying. They do not state a processing time for the MAPAQ permit or for the occupancy permit, so this guide gives none. They do not map a bakery to one MAPAQ permit class: the class follows the activities described in the application, so describe seating, takeaway, and production accurately and let MAPAQ assign the class. The City's page does not state a single occupancy permit fee, because the fee depends on the borough — the borough sections shown list amounts from $100 to $317 — so confirm the fee at your own borough's permit counter before you budget.

Related guides:

• How to Start a Bakery Business in Canada — the national bakery guide, with the format decision and the packaged-goods labelling routine in full.
• How to Register a Business in Quebec: the REQ, Your NEQ, and the French-Language Rules — registering the business and getting the NEQ the MAPAQ application asks for.
• How to Start Meeting Quebec's French-Language Requirements for Your Business — Quebec's French-language rules for a business, which apply to a Montreal bakery's signs and documents.
• How to Get a Building Permit in Montreal — the building permit for the fit-out or renovation of the bakery space.
• How to Start a Restaurant Business in Canada — the national restaurant guide, for a bakery that adds seating and table service.
• How to Get a Food Handler Certificate in Canada — food handler certification for the staff who prepare and serve food.

Sources

• Ville de Montréal, Get an occupancy permit for commercial, industrial or professional activity — the occupancy permit requirement for commercial activity, its attachment to the establishment and the operator, the new-permit triggers, the borough permit counter route, the required documents, the borough-dependent fees, and the restaurant and bar quotas.
• Légis Québec, Regulation respecting food (chapter P-29, r. 1) — the written permit application and its contents, payment of fees and file-opening costs with the application, the permit fees in section 1.3.6.7, the $137 file-opening cost, the April 1 annual indexing, the household-kitchen limits, and the holding temperatures.
• Gouvernement du Québec, Types de formation et inscription — the duty to name a person responsible for hygiene and food safety holding the Gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire attestation, the two coverage options, the 10% rule, and the register of trained staff.