How to Start a Restaurant in Quebec City
Open a restaurant in Quebec City: the City occupancy permit and zoning quotas, the MAPAQ restaurant permit, and the RACJ restaurant liquor permit.
How to Start a Coffee Shop in Montreal
A Montreal coffee shop needs a borough occupancy permit (certificat d'occupation) and a MAPAQ food permit — $367 a year for general preparation, plus a $144 first file-opening fee.
Applies in: Quebec
The short answer
Montreal splits a coffee shop between the borough and the province. The borough issues the occupancy permit — in French, a certificat d'occupation — and the City requires it for any commercial activity in a building, with fees set borough by borough. The province, through MAPAQ (Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec), issues the food permit: $367 a year for general preparation, plus a $144 file-opening fee on a first application, displayed in the shop and renewed every year.
The national coffee shop guide linked below covers the business spine. This guide covers Montreal and Quebec only. Quebec program and permit names are given in French once, as they appear on the forms, and in English after that.
Step 1: Check the street before the space
Montreal's occupancy page carries a warning most cities never print: under borough by-laws, a maximum number of bars and restaurants is permitted per street segment in some boroughs, and applicants should make sure the quota still allows a new establishment on the street they want. A coffee shop is a food business for this purpose, so the check comes before the lease, not after it.
The same page tells applicants to confirm the chosen activity is permitted at the premises before renting or purchasing. Zoning in Montreal is a borough matter, handled at the borough's permit counter, so two identical coffee shops on different streets can face different answers.
Step 2: Get the occupancy permit from the borough
The occupancy permit is attached to both the occupied establishment and its operator. It stays valid while the operator, the activities, and the premises stay the same. A new permit is required when:
- the operator changes,
- the area of the premises changes,
- the activities change, or new activities are added.
The application asks for proof of property ownership or the building owner's authorization, a document certifying the legal existence of the business, and a layout plan for the premises. A renovation or alteration permit joins the file if you plan work, if the premises changed since the last occupancy permit, or if the use changed.
Fees are borough business. On the City's occupancy page, the borough schedules include a $237 processing fee in one borough and $317 in another, a $300 certificate of occupancy fee in a third, and a $100 fee for new business establishments in a fourth — taxes included, and non-refundable where the borough says so. Quote your own borough's schedule in the budget; a figure from a neighbouring borough is not evidence.
Step 3: Apply to MAPAQ for the food permit
No premises where food is prepared for retail sale, and no restaurateur activity, can operate without a permit in force under Quebec's Food Products Act. MAPAQ runs that permit for restaurants and retail food. The application is filed on the paper form, by mail, with payment, and the permit must be in hand before the shop opens and displayed where customers can see it. It is valid for one year.
The annual fee follows the category:
- General preparation: $367. A coffee shop making drinks and food to order sits here.
- Keeping food hot or cold: $283. For premises that hold prepared food rather than preparing it.
- With a buffet: $566. The top restaurant category.
- First file opening: $144, added to a first application.
Step 4: Put hygiene in one named person's hands
MAPAQ's training rule is personal, not general. Every food establishment must have at least one person holding the food establishment manager attestation — in French, Gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire — designated as the person responsible for hygiene and food safety control in the establishment. The staff around that person who prepare or handle food, or who clean equipment that comes into contact with food, take the food handler attestation, a six-hour training.
Name the manager before opening day and keep the attestation in the shop's file. A coffee shop whose only attestation holder quits mid-season has a compliance problem, not just a staffing one, so a second trained person is cheap insurance.
Step 5: Liquor, if the concept needs it
Montreal is explicit about the order: a bar or restaurant must hold its occupancy permit before applying for a liquor permit. The liquor route is provincial — a restaurant permit from the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux (RACJ), which expects an establishment set up to prepare and sell food, with an area for patrons to eat on the premises, and the menu sent with the application. A coffee shop adding wine or beer plans for both applications, in that order.
What the opened pages do not state
The City's occupancy page gives borough-by-borough fees rather than one Montreal figure, so this guide states no single occupancy cost and no Montreal-wide processing time. The MAPAQ fee figures above come from the current published fee schedule for the permit categories; the pages opened do not state a MAPAQ processing time for a coffee shop application in a form this guide can quote, so no timeline is printed. Neither page states what a Montreal coffee shop fit-out costs.
Related guides:
- How to Start a Coffee Shop Business in Canada — the national guide: registration, taxes, equipment, and hiring.
- How to Start a Restaurant in Montreal — the full-service Montreal route through the same borough and MAPAQ systems.
- How to Start a Bakery in Montreal — a Montreal bakery under the same occupancy and MAPAQ permits.
- How to Get a Liquor Licence in Quebec — the RACJ restaurant permit, in the order Montreal requires.
- How to Register a Business in Quebec — the enterprise registration behind the occupancy application.
Opening a coffee shop in Montreal, in five steps
- Check the borough quota and zoning firstSome boroughs cap the number of restaurants and bars per street segment, so confirm the quota still allows a new food business on your street.
- Get the occupancy permit from your boroughThe certificat d'occupation is attached to both the establishment and its operator, and a new permit is required when the operator changes.
- Apply to MAPAQ for the food permitGeneral preparation costs $367 a year, keeping food hot or cold costs $283, and a first application adds a $144 file-opening fee.
- Name a trained hygiene managerEvery food establishment needs a person holding the food establishment manager attestation, responsible for hygiene and food safety control.
- Display the MAPAQ permit and renew it yearlyThe permit must be in hand before the shop opens, shown where customers can see it, and renewed every year.
Questions people ask
What City permit does a Montreal coffee shop need?
An occupancy permit, called a certificat d'occupation in French, from the borough where the shop sits. Montreal requires the permit to conduct a commercial activity in a building, the permit is attached to both the establishment and its operator, and a new permit is required if the operator changes, the premises area changes, or the activities change or are added.
How much does the Montreal occupancy permit cost?
It depends on the borough, because each borough's permit counter sets its own schedule on the City's occupancy page. The borough schedules shown there include processing fees of $237 and $317 and a certificate fee of $300, taxes included. There is no single Montreal-wide figure, so budget from your own borough's schedule.
How much is the MAPAQ food permit for a coffee shop?
The restaurant and retail food permit is priced by category: $367 a year for general preparation, $283 for keeping food hot or cold, and $566 for the category with a buffet. A first application adds a $144 file-opening fee. A coffee shop preparing drinks and food to order falls in the general preparation category.
What food hygiene training does a Montreal coffee shop need?
MAPAQ requires every food establishment to have at least one person who holds the food establishment manager attestation (in French, Gestionnaire d'établissement alimentaire) and is designated as responsible for hygiene and food safety control. Staff who prepare or handle food, or clean equipment that touches food, take the shorter food handler training, which lasts six hours.
Can a street in Montreal refuse another coffee shop?
Yes, in some boroughs. Montreal's occupancy page warns that under borough by-laws a maximum number of bars and restaurants is permitted per street segment, and tells applicants to make sure the quota still allows a new establishment in the area before applying.
Do I need the occupancy permit before a liquor permit?
Yes. Montreal states that a bar or restaurant must get its occupancy permit before applying for a liquor permit. The liquor permit itself is a restaurant permit from the Régie des alcools, des courses et des jeux, and it is a separate application from both the occupancy permit and the MAPAQ food permit.
Sources
- Ville de Montréal, Get an Occupancy Permit for Commercial, Industrial or Professional Activity — the occupancy permit requirement, the operator-and-establishment attachment, the change rules, the restaurant quotas per street segment, the liquor ordering rule, and the borough fee schedules.
- LégisQuébec, Food Products Act, section 9 — no operating premises where food is prepared for retail sale, and no restaurateur activity, without a permit in force.
- Gouvernement du Québec (MAPAQ), Permis pour préparation d'aliments, restauration ou vente au détail — the permit categories and annual fees of $367, $283, and $566, the $144 file-opening fee, the one-year validity, and the food establishment manager attestation.