How to Start a Bakery in Ottawa
Open a bakery in Ottawa: the City food premises licence, the Ottawa Public Health review, and the building and sign permits that come with it.
Starting out in Ottawa
How to Start Things in Ottawa
Everything below is about Ottawa itself: the City's licence categories and the food businesses they cover. Ontario-wide guides live on the Ontario hub instead. Start with the three Ottawa rules that trip up new businesses, then browse the guides.
Starting out in Ottawa: three rules worth knowing
Ottawa licenses categories, not businesses in general
There is no City of Ottawa licence that every business needs. The City licenses specific categories of business, each with its own requirements, fee, and expiry — food premises and mobile refreshment businesses are the categories most new food businesses meet. If your activity isn't a listed category, the City doesn't license it, though provincial and federal rules still apply.
Source: City of Ottawa: Food premises licence (ottawa.ca)
Preparing food? You need a food premises licence
Any Ottawa business that prepares food — bakeshops, butcher shops, caterers, cafés, lunch counters, cafeterias, and restaurants — needs a food premises licence for its free-standing premises, with $1 million in commercial general liability insurance behind it. The licence is transferable and expires annually on March 31. Grab-and-go food that is prepackaged, where the customer doesn't prepare or heat anything, is exempt.
Source: City of Ottawa: Food premises licence (ottawa.ca)
Food trucks are a separate licence family
Trucks and carts aren't food premises in Ottawa. They sit in their own licence categories — mobile refreshment vehicle, mobile refreshment cart, mobile canteen, and refreshment stand — each with its own fee range, and selling from a spot takes a designated space permit under the Designated Space By-law as well.
Source: City of Ottawa: Mobile refreshment cart, vehicle, canteen & stand licence (ottawa.ca)
Free tools
No tools built for this city yet. The guides below cover the ground.
Guides that apply in Ottawa
The guides and tools below are about Ottawa itself: its own licences, permits, and programs. Province-wide and Canada-wide guides live on their own hubs.
How to Start a Coffee Shop in Ottawa
Open a coffee shop in Ottawa: a City food premises licence at $298 a year expiring March 31, $1 million liability insurance, and notice to Ottawa Public Health at least 14 days before opening.
How to Start a Food Truck in Ottawa
Ottawa licences food trucks as mobile refreshment vehicles: $263 to $3,862 a year for an urban vehicle, about three weeks to process, with Ottawa Public Health approval, fire code compliance, and a Designated Space Permit for City roads and sidewalks.
How to Start a Restaurant in Ottawa
Open a restaurant in Ottawa: the City's Food Premises licence, Ottawa Public Health clearance, and the AGCO liquor sales licence if you serve alcohol.