Start a food truck in Calgary: the Full Service Food Vehicle licence at $953 new, the Alberta Health Services food handling permit, the $2 million insurance, and where a truck may and may not trade.
Applies in: Alberta
A Calgary food truck needs two approvals before it sells anything: a food handling permit from Alberta Health Services and a Full Service Food Vehicle business licence from the City of Calgary — plus $2,000,000 in liability insurance with the City named as an additional insured. Call AHS first, before you build or buy: plans must be submitted to AHS before construction and equipping of the truck begins. The 2026 licence costs $953 for a new application and $790 to renew, and all food truck licences share a single annual expiry date of March 31. Where you can trade is the part that catches new operators: downtown streets need a Street Use Permit, parks need a booked stall, and other public property is festivals and events only.
Alberta Health Services issues the food handling permit, and the permit comes before the City licence in practice: the City's licence checklist starts with "Have you called AHS for Consultation?" and the health inspection is one of the required approvals. Contact AHS Environmental Public Health at 1-833-476-4743.
AHS classifies mobile food establishments by how much food handling they do, and the type decides the equipment and whether a base of operation is needed:
A full-service truck that cooks on board is normally a Type E. Owners must submit plans before construction and equipping begins, showing the layout of all equipment, plumbing design, and construction details for AHS approval. AHS then issues a food handling permit and a decal carrying an identification number, and both must be displayed in a visible location on the truck. The permit carries a fee, set by Alberta Health Services' Schedule of Fee for Food Handling Permits: Class I $100, Class II $175, Class III $250, and Class IV $500. AHS confirms the class at application. After the truck passes its approval inspection, AHS emails an invoice for the fee, and emails the permit once it is paid. The permit is valid for one year, with an annual renewal fee. AHS's own start-up guide also lists registering in an approved food safety-training course as one of its ten steps for starting a food business. If you use a base of operation for dishwashing, you must return to the base each day to wash, rinse, and sanitise equipment and utensils.
Apply online through the City — you need a myID account — or in person at the Planning Services Centre, third floor of the Municipal Building, 800 Macleod Trail SE. You pay the fee when you submit the application. Before you apply, acquire a commercial licence plate number for the vehicle through a registry office, and confirm the land use approval for where the truck will be based: all businesses in Calgary require land use approval, and a large vehicle must be stored at a Land Use Bylaw-approved location, typically a commercial or industrial site. Parking a large vehicle in a residential area is generally not supported.
The licence checklist for a Full Service Food Vehicle is:
The City's approvals table for a food truck lists land use, fire, and health as required. Once you apply, a file manager contacts you to review the application and next steps, and the licence is issued only after every outstanding approval is complete. You need a separate licence for each mobile unit.
The 2026 fee, from the City's 2026 Business Licence Fee Schedule:
| Full Service Food Vehicle | New | Renewal |
|---|---|---|
| Base fee | $761 | $721 |
| Fire inspection fee | $117 | $69 |
| Building safety inspection fee | $75 | — |
| Total | $953 | $790 |
Licence fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, and do not include land use approvals, permits, or third-party approvals and inspections.
Multiple City and provincial departments inspect the truck, and the inspections run every year. Owners are notified each year of their annual food truck and trailer inspection, coordinated by Compliance Services – Business Licence Inspections, usually at the Calgary Fire Department Training Centre, on a first-come, first-served basis. The March 31 expiry lines the renewal up with this spring inspection cycle.
The City publishes inspection checklists. For the fire inspection, the hood, filters, back wall, floor, and extinguishers must be cleaned properly with no grease or dirt, the suppression system and extinguishers must be tested, inspected, and tagged, the generator, hood, and all appliances must turn on, and all extinguishers must be in an accessible location. For the AHS inspection, you must have a valid food handling permit on site, all food equipment clean and in working order, refrigeration at 4°C or colder with working thermometers, hot and cold running water with adequate pressure and volume, and an approved sanitizing solution with test strips on site. For plumbing and gas, new or newly purchased trucks need an interlock for the fresh air vent or window, propane bottles and fill valves must display a current propane decal, and all gas appliances must use Dormont gas hoses. Electrical wiring must comply with the 2021 Canadian Electrical Code, Part 1, and a working generator must be on site so inspectors can test the electrical systems.
Wastewater has its own rule: dispose of it only at approved locations, and keep a wastewater disposal logbook on board, completed in full, recording the date, time, location, approximate volume, and the name of the person making the disposal. For questions, the Industrial Monitoring Group can be reached at 403-268-4698 or img@calgary.ca.
This is where Calgary differs most from other Canadian cities. The licence alone does not give you a pitch.
Downtown. Downtown means the area bounded in the north by the Bow River, in the west by 14th Street West, in the south by 14th Avenue South, and in the east by the Elbow River. Operating from a street downtown requires a Street Use Permit from Roads, applied for through Roads ePermit at least five days before the permit comes into force, on a per-month basis. The 2026 fee for a food truck Street Use Permit is $117.90 per month. Downtown distance rules apply: at least 100 metres from a school property, at least 25 metres from an operating restaurant, bar, night club, or take-out food service unless you have written permission, and no more than two Full Service Food Vehicles on a single block face. A truck may only carry on business between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., must not operate after 10:00 p.m. on 10th Avenue SW between Centre Street and 4th Street SW, and must not operate in a prohibited zone shown on the City's map. Stephen Avenue Mall and Barclay Mall are a separate route: operators must apply through the Calgary Downtown Association. Food truck operators may not set up tables and chairs on sidewalks, roads, or other public property; tables and chairs can be placed temporarily on private property with the land owner's permission, and must leave when the truck leaves.
Private property. A truck may operate on private property with the written consent of the property owner, and the same distance rules for schools and nearby restaurants still apply. The truck must be less than 10 metres long, must have a commercial licence plate, and must not allow customers to order or consume foods and beverages inside the vehicle.
City parks. Licensed food trucks can apply for a food truck stall at a City park through the City's booking page or by calling 403-268-3800 ext. 2. Vendors operating in City parks need a valid business licence, and there is no waiving of licence fees. At festivals and events in parks, vendors do not need a licence for that location, but need additional permission from Parks, which must be produced to a licence inspector on demand.
Other public property. A food truck is not allowed on public property except for City-approved festivals and events. Vendors at festivals and events on City land must complete a Food Vendor Pre-Qualification application; for information, call 311 or email eventservices@calgary.ca. Mobile vendors are not allowed to sell from LRT stations, including the parking lots around them.
Calgary has two nearby licence types that are easy to confuse with the Full Service Food Vehicle licence, and picking the wrong one limits where you can trade:
If your truck cooks on board and you want to trade on streets, the Full Service Food Vehicle licence is the one. If it only sells food made elsewhere, the cheaper No Premises licence fits — but it cannot trade on a downtown street.
The City fees above are the fixed floor. The truck and the build are where the money goes, and published Canadian estimates cluster in three bands:
| Launch route | All-in startup range |
|---|---|
| Used truck, basic setup | $40,000 to $95,000 |
| Used truck, fully fitted out | $95,000 to $210,000 |
| New, fully equipped | $175,000 to $290,000 and up |
These are ranges reported by Canadian industry sources, not quotes: Kimecopak reports $95,000 to $210,000 for a used-truck startup and over $290,000 for a new fully-equipped truck, and Zensurance puts the overall band at $40,000 to $200,000. The line items behind the totals:
| Cost item | Typical range |
|---|---|
| Truck, used | $30,000 to $100,000 |
| Truck, new | $50,000 to $175,000 |
| Kitchen retrofit on a used vehicle | $15,000 and up |
| Full Service Food Vehicle licence | $953 new, $790 renewal (Calgary, fixed for 2026) |
| Street Use Permit (downtown streets) | $117.90 per month (Calgary, 2026) |
| Liability insurance | $2,000,000 cover required; premium by quote |
| Startup inventory and serveware | $1,400 to $5,500 |
Testing the rent-or-buy choice moves this table more than any other single decision. A first-season rental dodges most of the truck cost above, and our rent-or-buy calculator lets you compare both routes with your own numbers before you sign.
The opened pages publish no fee figure for the AHS inspection, so this guide states none — confirm any inspection fee when you call 1-833-476-4743. The food handling permit fee itself is now stated in Step 1. The City's park booking pages and the Mobile Food Vendor Application Guide list different per-day stall fees for City parks, so this guide states no park stall fee; check the current fee on the booking page for the park you want. The opened pages also publish no processing-time estimate for the licence application, so this guide gives none — the practical lever on timing is having the AHS consultation, insurance, and land use approval ready before you apply, since the licence is issued only after every approval is complete. Food handler certification is not stated as a City licence requirement in the opened pages; the Food Regulation staffing rule is a separate AHS matter, so confirm with AHS whether certification is required for your truck.
A Full Service Food Vehicle business licence from the City of Calgary. It covers a truck or van equipped to store and cook food and drinks, which moves from place to place and sells food directly to customers. It excludes vehicles that mainly sell packaged or pre-made food. You need a separate licence for each mobile unit.
For 2026, a new Full Service Food Vehicle licence costs $953 in total, made up of a $761 base fee, a $117 fire inspection fee, and a $75 building safety inspection fee. Renewal costs $790 in total, made up of a $721 base fee and a $69 fire inspection fee. All food truck licences share a single annual expiry date of March 31. Licence fees are non-refundable and non-transferable.
Before you operate a mobile food establishment outside of a special event, you must hold a valid food handling permit issued by Alberta Health Services. You must submit plans to AHS before construction and equipping of the truck begins, showing the layout of all equipment, plumbing design, and construction details. AHS issues a food handling permit and a decal with an identification number, and both must be displayed in a visible location on the truck.
On private property with the written consent of the property owner, on downtown streets with a Street Use Permit, and in City parks at a booked stall. On other public property, a food truck is only allowed as part of a City-approved festival or event. Food trucks may not sell from Calgary Transit parking lots, including LRT station lots. Downtown, a truck must stay 100 metres from a school property and 25 metres from an operating restaurant, bar, night club, or take-out food service unless it has written permission, and no more than two trucks may operate on one block face.
A minimum of $2,000,000 in liability coverage, with the City of Calgary added as an additional named insured, and 30 days written notice to the City before cancellation or material change to the policy. You must provide a certificate of liability insurance, not the pink slip from your vehicle insurance.
A Full Service Food Vehicle may only carry on business between 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. It must not operate after 10:00 p.m. on 10th Avenue SW between Centre Street and 4th Street SW. The truck must be less than 10 metres long, must have a commercial licence plate, and must not allow customers to order or consume food and drinks inside the vehicle.