Information and Media

Before you apply

Do you need to register your business?

We encourage all businesses operating in Calgary to register their business with The City of Calgary.

All businesses operating from a location in Calgary are required to obtain location approval for their business, even if a licence is not required. Location approval helps ensure that the space you are operating has been approved for your business and is safe for all occupants.

If your business requires a business licence, registration will occur at the same time as applying for your licence. If you wish to register your business with the City of Calgary, please apply online.

Do you need a business licence?

Businesses that include photography or videography for compensation require a business licence. This licence type includes incidental product sales but does not include photographic equipment sales.

MyID business account

If you have a myID business account, you can get a digital copy of your business licence through email.

To learn more and to sign-up, visit myID business account.

Examples of businesses that do require municipal licensing:

Do

Photographers
Videographers
Photo reproduction
Print production of tangible products (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.)
Film developers
Sales of photographic equipment

Examples of businesses that do not require municipal licensing:

Don't

Motion picture and sound recording, including film production
Web and graphic design
Journalists
Registry offices taking photos

If a business films or produces adult videos or photographs a business licence for model studios is required.

To speed up the business licence approvals process, customers with a myID business account can receive a digital copy of their business licence via email. Customers applying for a new business licence or renewing an existing licence can use this service. To learn more about the benefits of a myID business account, please visit myID business account (calgary.ca).

If your business does not require a licence, you still require a Business ID and land use approval. Visit businesses not requiring a municipal licence for more information.

Learn more

Rules and regulations

Door-to-door photography

Photographers who go door-to-door selling their services require individual direct seller licences, even if the firm represented is already licensed. Contact Service Alberta for more information at 1-780-427-4088 (or toll free within Alberta at 1-877-427-4088).

Fees

For business licence fees, see the Business Licence Fee Schedule. The business licence fee schedule is broken down by licence type. If your business requires multiple licence types, the highest category fee will be charged.

These fees do not include the costs related to required permits to meet land use approval, or any third-party approvals or inspections that may be required to obtain your licence.

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
Apply for a police check from Police Information Checks
If you are applying online, a myID account

Tips for a smooth application process

Before you apply

Put together a cost and timeline estimate.
Confirm the requirements needed to operate from your selected location:
- Is your type of business allowed to operate from your chosen location (is the Use listed in your Land Use District)
- What type of Permits do you need as part of your Location Approval? See location approval.
  - Do you need to apply for a development permit or tenancy change as part of your Location Approval?
  - Does the space require any upgrades to comply with Building and Fire Codes?
    - Are you doing construction yourself or hiring a contractor?
    - Do you need to apply for a building permit as part of your Land Use Approval?
  - Do you need approval from the property owner before making changes to the space?
- Hire the appropriate contractors for the project.
  - Are your contractors licensed
  - Can your contractors pull the right trade permits to work on your business?

After you apply

Submit all required documents as soon as you have prepared the permit requirements
- If your Business needs a Development and Building Permit, submit the Development Permit first and wait for a decision prior to submitting your Building Permit
- If your Business needs a Building Permit, submit all necessary Building Permit requirements
Follow-up on requests for further information
Book and complete your Inspections if a Building Permit is required
Book and complete your Health and Fire Inspections once the Building Permit is complete

Need help? A business experience representative can help you determine what approvals you will need. Contact The Planning Services Centre.

Apply for your licence and required permits

To apply online, you need a myID account. Create a myID account.

Apply online

Apply in person

Once you have gathered all required documents, you can apply for your permit in person by visiting the Planning Services Centre.

After you apply

What approvals do you need?

After you submit your application online, you will get a confirmation email summarizing your application. It will include your Business Identification number (BID) and your next steps. If you do not get this email, check your junk email folder and then contact the Planning Services Center if you still did not receive it.

Once you apply for your business licence, you must complete your outstanding approvals before the business licence is issued.

The approvals you will need for your licence are:

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
Photographer	check	check	check
Personal service	check		check	check
Manufacturer	check		check
Model	check	check
Model studio	check	check	check
Retail dealer - premises

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 mulit-residential for more information, or contact our Planning Services Centre at 403-268-5311 to investigate land use approval for your business.

This licence type requires police security clearance recommendation.

Effective January 1, 2025, business licence applicants will now be responsible for obtaining and submitting their police security clearance independently through the Calgary Police Services (CPS) online system or through their local police authority within their jurisdiction, if they are not a resident of the City of Calgary. The City of Calgary will no longer facilitate police security clearance on behalf of applicants.

Previously completed police security clearance obtained within 60-days of application will be accepted.

You are required to provide two pieces of valid, government-issued identification, one of which must contain photo identification (ID) for the purpose of verifying the police security clearance.

You can show your ID:

In person at the Planning Services Centre:
3rd floor
800 Macleod Trail S.E.
Calgary, AB

By email: licencedivisionteam@calgary.ca

By fax: 403-537-3034

Please reference your Business ID (BID) in the email or fax.

Please note: for licenses requiring a statutory declaration or a City-issued ID card, proof of identification must be shown in person.

This approval generally takes about two weeks.

Acceptable forms of government issued photo identification include:

driver’s license
passport
Alberta photo identification card (issued through registry offices)
firearms license
Nexus card
permanent resident card
Secure Certificate of Indian Status card (federally issued)
aviation document booklet
certified refugee protection claimant document

(For youth between the ages of 12 to 15 years old who cannot provide any of the listed photo identification options, a student photo ID will be considered).

Acceptable forms of government issued identification include:

provincial health care card
birth certificate
marriage certificate
immigration documentation (includes valid document issued by Immigration and citizenship Canada)
citizenship card
citizenship certificate

Most businesses that operate from commercial premises require an inspection from the Fire Prevention Bureau before the licence can be issued.

If a business licence is for a low fire-risk licence type, it can be issued if only the Fire approval is outstanding. Low fire-risk businesses need to have the fire inspection within 30 days of their licence being issued.

Before you book your inspection, you must be ready for business, which means:

Applicants must be in possession of the space/site
The business is ready to serve customers (e.g. shelves are stocked and fixtures are in place)

Business Licence Approval Type	Timeline
Fire inspection	5 business days

To book your inspection contact 311 with your Business Identification (BID) number to request a Fire Inspection for Business Licence (call 403-268-2489 outside of Calgary) .

It can take up to 5 business days for an inspector to visit the space.

See the Fire Department Business Licence Checklist to see what is required for your inspection.

The Fire Prevention Bureau will notify the Licence Division with the results of the inspection.

This inspection must be performed by the Fire Prevention Bureau inspectors. This approval is in addition to any inspection done by the firefighting division, such as the occupancy inspection completed on your building permit.

An Alberta Health Services (AHS) location inspection is required to ensure public safety. Any business involving the sale, preparation, manufacturing or storage of food products requires this inspection. Any business involved in personal service such as aesthetics or massage is also required to have this inspection. Contact AHS at 1-833-476-4743 for more information and to book a date.

Inspection results can be submitted:

In person at the Planning Services Centre:
3rd floor, Municipal building, 800 Macleod Trail S.E.
By email: licencedivisionteam@calgary.ca

If AHS advised you that your business type does not require a health inspection, please forward the email confirmation as proof to The City’s Planning Services Centre.

After you have obtained all your approvals, your Business Licence can be issued to you.

Check the status of your application

After you submit your application online, you will get a confirmation email with a Job Access Code (JAC).

To track your application and check its status, enter your Job Access Code in Vista.

If you need help or have questions, contact our Planning Services Centre.

Get a copy of your licence

As part of The City’s efforts to accelerate the business license approvals process, customers with a myID business account can receive a digital copy of their business licence via email. This is available to customers applying for a new business licence or renewing an existing licence. To learn more about the benefits of a myID business account and to sign-up today, please visit myID business account.

If you prefer to receive a mailed copy of your business licence, you can select this option by requesting a duplicate copy online or by calling the Planning Services Centre. Paper duplicates are offered free of charge at this time. Please allow about two weeks to receive your licence in the mail. If you have not received it within this timeframe, please contact the Planning Services Centre.

When does your licence expire?

Business licenses expire one year from the issuance date. You’ll get a notice in the mail 45 days before your licence expires to notify you of the expiry date. To renew your licence, see licence renewals.

Renewing your business licence

Your business licence needs to be renewed every year to remain active. We will mail you an invoice 45 days prior to payment being due. How you choose to pay for your renewal will affect when we receive the fee, so please allow sufficient processing time.

Payment options

Online renewal

To renew your licence online, sign into your myID business account and manage your business at apply.calgary.ca.

If you do not have a myID business account, you will have to create one first.

Online banking

Please note the following items from your invoice; they are required for online payment:

Payee: when setting up the payee on your online banking, choose payee CALGARY (CITY OF) - CORPORATE INVOICE. Please note that different banks may have a different variation of the spelling, e.g. Calgary (City): Corporate Invoice. If you are not sure that you selected the correct payee, confirm with the bank.
Payee account number: some banks or institutions may refer to this as the accounts receivable number (A/R#). Use your customer number on the invoice. If you are unable to find your customer number, contact the Planning Services Centre.

In person

Planning Services Centre
Third floor, Municipal Building
800 Macleod Tr S.E. Calgary, Alberta

Over the phone

To renew your licence over the phone, please call (403) 268-5311. Please note, we only accept credit card as a payment method over the phone.

Mail - please include Business ID

The City of Calgary
Licence Division
PO Box 2100 Station M (#8043)
Calgary, AB T2P 2M5

Make changes to your business

Business licences are specific to the owner when the business was applied and are non-transferable from one person or entity to another.

You can make some changes to your business, including:

Moving your Business
Change your mailing address
Changing your Trade Name
Updating your Ownership (sole proprietor or partnership to corporation) * conditions apply

See manage your business for more information.

Planning Services Centre

Hours:
Monday - Friday
8 a.m. - 4 p.m. (MT)

Live chat:
calgary.ca/livechat

Call:
403-268-5311

In person:
Planning Services Centre,
3rd floor, Municipal building
800 Macleod Trail SE

Book an eAppointment for in person services at appointment.calgary.ca

Information and Media - business guide

Before you apply

Do you need to register your business?

Do you need a business licence?

MyID business account

Do

Don't

Rules and regulations

Door-to-door photography

Fees

Apply

Prepare your application

Tips for a smooth application process

Before you apply

Before you apply

After you apply

Apply for your licence and required permits

After you apply

What approvals do you need?

​Land use approval​

Calgary Police Services approval

Fire Prevention Bureau approval

Alberta Health Services Approval (AHS)

Check the status of your application

Get a copy of your licence

Lost or damaged licences

Licence not received in the mail

When does your licence expire?

Renewing your business licence

Payment options

Other payment options

Home Occupation Class 2 renewals

Business licence fees

What happens if you don’t renew your licence?

Make changes to your business

Planning Services Centre