Mobile Food Vendors - business licensing
A municipal business licence is required for businesses that offer mobile food services. Examples of businesses that do require municipal licensing:
- Bicycle food vendors
- Catering trucks
- Food trailers
- Food trucks
- Pushcarts
- Hot dog carts
- Ice cream trucks
- Grocery delivery
- Fresh produce vendors
What do you need to do before applying?
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An Alberta Health Services consultation is required if food is prepared in a commercial-grade kitchen within a home. Contact 1-833-476-4743 for more information.
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A Home Occupation Class 2 Development Permit and a Commercial Building Permit may also be required.
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Acquire a licence plate number.
Food truck versus food service - no premises
The required licence type depends on where the food is prepared and where the truck is located.
Food truck (full service food vehicles)
- Food trucks can operate on both city streets and private property.
- Food trucks must adhere to maximum dimensions, contain a full kitchen and prepare food to be sold directly to the public.
A food truck:
- has the facilities on board to store and prepare food,
- is less than 10 metres (32’-9 5/8”) in length, and
- has a commercial licence plate, obtained through a registry office.
In addition:
- Wastewater must be disposed of at approved locations. Learn more about how and where to dispose of fats, oils and grease.
- Streets, traffic, truck route and wastewater bylaws must be complied.
- There must be a separate licence for each mobile unit/location.
- Must have a minimum of $2,000,000 liability coverage
- The City of Calgary must be added as an additional named insured
- Must have thirty (30) days written notice, to be given to The City, prior to cancellation of, or material change to, the policy
- Food trucks must not allow customers to order or consume foods and beverages inside the vehicle.
- Food truck operators are NOT able to set up tables and chairs on sidewalks, roads, or other public property as per the Street Bylaw.
- Tables and chairs can be temporarily placed on private property provided they have permission from the land owner. However, the tables and chairs must leave when the food truck leaves.
Food service - no premises
- Can only operate on private property.
- Do not require a self-contained kitchen and can sell pre-packaged food.
- Are not limited to the size and vehicle requirements of food trucks.
This licence type includes food prepared and stored in a vehicle, in a commercial kitchen (including catering trucks) or in a trailer. Some examples include:
- Food trucks that only operate at festivals or only sell pre-prepared foods,
- Pushcarts outside of downtown,
- Bicycle vendors operating on roadways that do not meet the definition of pushcart,
- Ice cream trucks and catering trucks, and
- Trailers pulled by a truck.
Pushcart vendor
A portable cart or wagon (which may be attached to a bicycle) used for carrying goods to sell to the public fall under this category. This includes bicycle food vendors operating on downtown city sidewalks. Pushcarts can operate on public property, but are limited to specific sites downtown.
Pushcarts operating downtown (other than on Stephen Avenue Mall, Barclay Mall or Eau Claire Market) can be located in the north part of downtown. This is shown on the Downtown Pushcart Locations map.
There are no pushcart vendors operating outside of downtown. These businesses are licensed as food service – no premises, or retail dealer – no premises when selling non-food products. A statutory declaration and indemnification agreement must be completed upon application.
All pushcarts must apply for an annual approval with the Pushcart Approval application requirements list. Land use approval is also required for the location of operations.
- Pushcarts have a maximum size of 1 metres wide and 1.5 metres long. No hitch is allowed to remain on the cart when set up.
- You must have a licence for each mobile unit/location.
- Must have a minimum of $2,000,000 liability coverage
- The City of Calgary must be added as an additional named insured
- Must have thirty (30) days written notice, to be given to The City, prior to cancellation of, or material change to, the policy
Caterers
A catering business can only provide alcohol with meals served along with catered events for private social functions (e.g. a wedding). A catering business can store alcohol at the business premises if it is not sold for consumption on or away from, or at the premises. In this situation, no alcohol beverage sales or liquor store licence is required.
If a catering business promotes or organizes a public event and sells tickets to the general public, it may require alcohol beverage sales, food service - premises, and entertainment establishment licence types.
To operate on private property, businesses must get written consent from the property owner. This service is only offered downtown between 7 a.m. and 3 a.m.
Annual inspection for food trucks and trailers
Food truck owners are notified each year of their annual food truck and trailer inspection. The inspections are coordinated by Compliance Services - Business Licence Inspections. The inspections are completed on a first come / first serve basis, usually located at the Calgary Fire Department Training Centre.
As the inspections are very busy, City staff send out the following pre-inspection reminders.
Approved locations
| Food truck | Food service - no premises & food truck on private property | Pushcart vendor | |
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Additional information |
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Downtown (not including Stephen Ave, Barclay Mall and Eau Claire) |
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Can only locate on sidewalks in the Downtown North or Downtown South (only 4 spots given by lottery each year for South). Pushcarts can also include retail sales, not just food. |
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Stephen Ave, Barclay Mall and Eau Claire |
Contact Downtown Association. If ONLY operating here, no City approvals required. |
Contact Downtown Association. If ONLY operating here, no City approvals required. |
Contact Downtown Association. If ONLY operating here, no City approvals required. |
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City of Calgary parks (including Olympic Plaa and entrance to Prince's Island Park, in front of te YMCA) |
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Other public property |
Not allowed on public property EXCEPT for City approved festivals and events. |
Vendors in all other public property outside downtown will only be permitted to operate as part of a major festival or event. Roads does not regulate this activity. It is assumed operator will pull over in safe area and not remain on the roadside for any extended period of time. Transit Parking lots –Mobile vendors are not allowed to sell from LRT stations - including the parking lots surrounding the stations, which are under the control of Calgary Transit. Sidewalks within the LRT station parking lots are also under the control of Calgary Transit. Questions regarding commercial activity from LRT stations. |
Outside downtown: Licence as Food Service - No Premise or Retail Dealer- No Premise, if no food. See respective category for rules. |
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Private property |
Customer must obtain written authorization from the owner. Other restrictions may apply (Schools & other Restaurants nearby). |
Customer must obtain written authorization from the owner.. |
Outside downtown: Licence as Food Service - No Premise or Retail Dealer- No Premise, if no food. Written authorization from the owner will be required |
Apply
Prepare your application
Once you know how and where your business will operate, you’re ready to apply.
For a smooth application, make sure you know the following information:
- Business Activities
- Location of Business
- Fee payment at the time of application*
- Ownership
- Name of Business
- Contact information for the business and owner
- If you are applying online, a myID account
You will be contacted by a file manager to review your application and provide you with next steps.
Required
| Licence type | Land use | Police | Fire | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food service - no premises | ||||
| Food service - premises | ||||
| Food truck (full service food vehicle) | ||||
| Pushcart vendor | ||||
| Food truck (private property) |
All mobile vendors
Land use approval
All businesses in Calgary require land use approval. Each space in a building has its own specified, approved use that cannot be changed without an approval, permit or both.
To view the allowable uses within a land use district, refer to the Land Use Bylaw. To determine the land use district of a property, visit myProperty.
You can also refer to Commercial, industrial and multi-residential for more information, or contact our Planning Services Centre at 403-268-5311 to investigate land use approval for your business.
Health inspection
A Health Inspection (Health Recommendation Report) is required. Please contact Alberta Health Services (AHS) at 1-833-476-4743 and advise you have applied for a City business licence which has a category that requires AHS approval. They will determine if an inspection is required or not. If they do an inspection, AHS will email you an approval report when completed. Please forward a copy of this email reference your BID number in the subject line. If AHS has advised they do not need to inspect, please document who exactly at AHS has advised of this and we can override the approval when you provide us this information.
Customers must contact Alberta Health Services at Contact Environmental Public Health · Alberta Health Services for Full Service Food Vehicle requirements as well as commercial-grade kitchen consultation.
Food trucks / Push carts
Indemnification Agreement and Statutory Declaration
*Approval only required if on city streets or public property.
Four originals of the indemnification agreement to be signed identically. You must have a Commissioner for Oaths be present. The person signing must be:
- who they say they are and they are the one(s) who signed the indemnification agreement,
- of signing authority for the company (if it is a corporation, you will need BLR to print off a corporation search), and
- at least 18 years of age.
Only one copy of Statutory Declaration must be completed. A Commissioner for Oaths be at the front counter needs present.
Insurance
A copy of a CERTIFICATE OF LIABILITY INSURANCE (not your pink slip) is required in order to operate your food truck. To obtain this, please contact your insurance company and have them complete a Certificate of Liability Insurance. On this certificate we will require the following:
- Must have a minimum of $2,000,000 liability coverage
- The City of Calgary must be added as an additional named insured
- Must have thirty (30) days written notice, to be given to The City, prior to cancellation of, or material change to, the policy
Fire and Building Regulation Inspections
Please contact 3-1-1 (or 403-268-2489 if calling from outside Calgary) to book this specific licence type (Fire Inspection for Mobile Food Concession). A specific inspector will call the morning they are planning to come to ensure they will have access to the space. A 6–7-day window is typically provided. Once the inspection is completed, they will notify The City of the results.
Full service food vehicles require a building regulations Plumbing & Gas and HVAC inspection to ensure compliance to Provincial and Federal safety codes. The building safety inspection is coordinated in conjunction with the business licence fire inspection. Building Safety and Approvals will be notified automatically once the customer calls 3-1-1 to book the fire inspection. The customer does NOT need to contact Building Safety and Approvals separately to book the inspection. All they need to do is call 3-1-1 to book a fire inspection and then both the Fire Department and Building Regulations will contact the customer to arrange for a mutually beneficial time to have both inspections done at the same time and location.
This category of vendor is also required to have land use and health inspection approvals.