How to Start a Bakery in Halifax
Open a bakery in Halifax: the HRM occupancy permit, the commercial development permit, and the Nova Scotia Food Establishment Permit.
Starting out in Halifax
How to Start Things in Halifax
Everything below is about Halifax itself: how the municipality licenses vending and the food businesses covered here. Nova Scotia-wide guides live on the Nova Scotia hub instead. Start with the three Halifax rules that trip up new businesses, then browse the guides.
Starting out in Halifax: three rules worth knowing
Selling on municipal land takes a site licence
Halifax Regional Municipality doesn't run a general business licence for storefronts, but vending on municipal land is licensed site by site under By-law C-501. There are four vendor licence kinds — Food Service Vehicle, Food Stand, Bicycle Wagon, and Artisan Stand — and you may vend only at a site you hold a licence for.
Source: Halifax: Vendor licence (halifax.ca)
Vending sites are handed out once a year, first come first served
Annual applications for vending sites — food trucks, food stands, bicycle wagons, and artisan sites — open each March for the season ahead, and applications are processed on a first come, first served basis. The municipality tells applicants to have their customer account and business account set up before opening day, so a missing account doesn't cost them the site they want.
Source: Halifax: Vendor licence (halifax.ca)
Your vending licence can't be sold or handed over
A licence issued under By-law C-501 is not transferable: it belongs to the vendor who applied, for the site named. Licence fees are set by administrative order and change from time to time, so the figure to trust is the one in the current application round, not a number quoted from a previous season.
Source: Halifax: By-law C-501, Vending on Municipal Lands (halifax.ca)
Free tools
No tools built for this city yet. The guides below cover the ground.
Guides that apply in Halifax
The guides and tools below are about Halifax itself: its own licences, permits, and programs. Province-wide and Canada-wide guides live on their own hubs.
How to Start a Food Truck in Halifax
A Halifax food truck needs two approvals: a Nova Scotia Food Establishment Permit for a Mobile Class 1 unit, and an HRM food vending licence under By-law C-501 for a specific site on municipal land.
How to Start a Restaurant in Halifax
Open a restaurant in Halifax: the HRM business occupancy permit, the Nova Scotia Environment Food Establishment Permit, and the Nova Scotia Permanent Liquor Licence.