How to Start a Restaurant in Ottawa

The short answer

A restaurant in Ottawa needs a City of Ottawa Food Premises licence, and Ottawa Public Health clearance behind it. The licence is the City's own licence for businesses that prepare food. It is not Toronto's licence, and it does not work the same way: Ottawa has one Food Premises licence category for restaurants, while Toronto splits food businesses into Eating or Drinking Establishment and Take-out or Retail Food Establishment categories. If you serve alcohol, you also need a liquor sales licence from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), applied for separately through the AGCO's iAGCO portal.

Start with the City's Business Information Officer. The officer's job is to set out the licences and permits your address needs before you spend money on the fit-out. You can reach the officer at bio1stop@ottawa.ca or 613-580-2745. For other licence questions, the City lists 613-580-2424 ext. 12735.

Step 1: Confirm the address can hold a restaurant

Before you sign a lease, confirm the address works for a restaurant. The Food Premises licence requires the building to comply with zoning, building code, public health, fire code, and property standards requirements. A space that is not zoned for a restaurant cannot be fixed by a licence application, so check zoning first and get the answer in writing from the City before you commit to rent.

Step 2: Apply for the Food Premises licence

Apply through the Food Premises Application tool on My ServiceOttawa, or complete a business application form request. The City lists the cost as about $298 a year and the timeline as about 3 weeks, and it calls both figures approximate. Your opening date must be within four to six weeks of the application date, so time the application to your build-out, not to the day you sign the lease.

The application asks for:

• Proof that you are 18 or older.
• Proof of ownership of the premises, or a lease.
• Proof of $1 million in Commercial General Liability insurance. The proof must be a valid certificate, not a quotation, binder, or renewal slip.
• Articles of incorporation, if the business is incorporated, including the company name or number, the date of incorporation, and a signature.

The licence is transferable and expires every March 31, so it must be renewed each year. A licence that lapses on March 31 leaves the restaurant unlicensed until it is renewed.

Step 3: Pass the inspections

The licence is not issued on paperwork alone. The building must meet zoning, building code, public health, fire code, and property standards requirements, and the City's licensing centre coordinates the inspection and approval process across those departments. Ottawa Public Health inspects the food premises before it opens. Plan the build-out so the kitchen, hand washing, storage, and waste areas are finished before the inspections are booked, because a failed inspection sends you back to the end of the queue.

Certify a food handler before opening

The licence is not the only opening requirement: under Ontario Regulation 493/17, every operator of a food service premises must ensure at least one food handler or supervisor who has completed food handler training is on the premises during every hour it is operating. Plan the roster so a sick day does not leave a service without a certified person on site.

Ottawa Public Health accepts certifications from in-class training at Algonquin College, from Ministry of Health recognized programs including the online "In Good Hands" program, and from any other health unit or authority in Ontario or Canada. Candidates who already hold a certificate can challenge the exam instead of retaking the course, with proof of completion from an approved program within the last year; re-certification by exam is available within one calendar year of the certificate's expiry date. Get the certification done before opening week, so the first inspection finds a certified handler on site.

Step 4: Apply for the liquor sales licence, if you serve alcohol

If the restaurant will sell or serve alcohol, apply to the AGCO for a liquor sales licence. Selling or serving food or liquor does not have to be the primary business. Licences run for a two-year or four-year term. A new application costs $1,055 for two years or $1,355 for four years.

Before you apply:

• Verify zoning with the City, to make sure the location is zoned for the business you want to operate.
• Verify tax compliance through the Ontario Ministry of Finance's Tax Compliance Verification portal. The portal generates a Tax Compliance Verification number, which the application needs.

The application needs entity disclosure and personal disclosure for the people behind the business, a signed signature form, and floor plans drawn to scale that show dimensions, the proposed licensed areas, the layout of the whole location, and secondary areas such as washrooms, hallways, and stairwells in a different colour.

Two more documents follow, and the AGCO suggests sending them as soon as possible so the application is completed promptly:

• Municipal information form. Fill it out and take it to the municipal clerk's office. The clerk signs and dates it, and the municipality returns the completed form to you.
• Agency letters of approval. These are also called compliance letters. You need one each from the building department, the fire marshal or fire protection officer, and the public health department. Each letter must show that the location meets the standards and by-laws that agency is responsible for, and must be signed and dated by the right person in that agency.

The AGCO inspects the location before issuing the licence, to check that the proposed areas qualify and match the application and floor plans. Most new applications need a public notice period: the AGCO emails a poster to print and hang where the public can read it from outside the proposed location, and posts notice on the iAGCO portal so members of the community can raise concerns. The people behind the business may also have to go through a police and financial background check.

Once licensed, liquor can be served between 9 a.m. and 2 a.m., or until 3 a.m. on New Year's Eve. All signs of liquor service and consumption must be cleared 45 minutes after closing time, including glasses and bottles from tables.

Step 5: Register the business

Registering the business is separate from the City licence. If you trade under a business name, register it, and get a Canada Revenue Agency business number if you do not already have one. The full steps are in our How to Register a Business in Ontario: Business Name Registration Explained guide. This guide does not repeat them.

What the opened pages do not state

The City's Food Premises licence page does not state the lead time for booking the Ottawa Public Health inspection, so this guide gives no number of days for it — contact the Business Information Officer to arrange the inspection. The page also does not state a sign permit fee or a building permit fee for the fit-out, so this guide states neither. The AGCO page does not state a processing time for a liquor sales licence application, so this guide gives none. The City calls the $298 fee and the 3-week timeline approximate, so confirm both before you budget or set an opening date.

Related guides:

• How to Start a Restaurant Business in Canada — the national restaurant guide, with the general shape of the business before the Ottawa-specific steps.
• How to Get a Liquor Licence in Ontario — the full Ontario liquor licence process, including licence classes and endorsements.
• How to Register a Business in Ontario: Business Name Registration Explained — business name registration and the CRA business number, which come before the City licence.
• How to Start a Restaurant in Vancouver — the same kind of city guide for Vancouver, showing how another city's licence and health approval differ.
• How to Get a Food Handler Certificate in Canada — food handler certification for the staff who prepare and serve food.

Sources

• City of Ottawa, Food premises licence — the Food Premises licence requirement for businesses that prepare food, the approximate $298 annual cost and 3-week timeline, the March 31 expiry, the 18-or-older rule, the four-to-six-week opening window, the zoning, building code, public health, fire code, and property standards requirements, the $1 million insurance rule, and the Business Information Officer contact.
• City of Ottawa, Apply for a municipal business licence — the Business Licensing Centre coordinating zoning, building, police, health, fire, and property standards approvals, and the Business Ambassador Service and Food Premises Application tool for new food establishments.
• Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Apply for a liquor sales licence — the $1,055 two-year and $1,355 four-year fees, the iAGCO portal, zoning and tax compliance verification, entity and personal disclosure, floor plans, the municipal information form, agency letters of approval, the pre-licensing inspection, the public notice process, background checks, and the 9 a.m. to 2 a.m. hours of sale.
• Ottawa Public Health, Certified Food Handler Training — the O. Reg. 493/17 every-hour rule, the accepted providers including Algonquin College and In Good Hands, and the exam-only and re-certification routes.
• Ontario, O. Reg. 493/17, Food Premises Regulation — at least one trained food handler or supervisor on site during every operating hour.