Municipal licensing
Every Ontario municipality licenses mobile food differently, prices it differently, and calls it something different. Here is what these municipalities actually charge, with the by-law behind each figure.
Running the same food truck costs $250 a year in London and $9,257.29 in Toronto. That is roughly 37 times more for an identical business, and the gap is almost entirely a licensing decision rather than a cost of doing business.
| Municipality | What the by-law calls it | First year | Each year after |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | Refreshment Vehicle Class 1 | $250 | Not published |
| Kitchener | Food Truck licence | $268 | $149 |
| Whitby | Refreshment Vehicle licence | $273 | $220 |
| Barrie | Refreshment Vehicle Motorized licence | $287.54 | $287.54 |
| Oshawa | Class B Mobile Refreshment Vehicle Licence | $330 | $310 |
| Burlington | Refreshment Vehicle Class A | $392.70 | $392.70 |
| Brampton | Refreshment Vehicle Class C plate and Refreshment Vehicle Driver's Licence | $409 | Not published |
| Windsor | Mobile Vendor of Food, Class 3 (motorized with on-board kitchen) | $450.60 | $430 |
| Richmond Hill | Refreshment vehicle owner's license and refreshment vehicle driver's license | $480 | Not published |
| Orangeville | Mobile Food Vendor's Licence | $500 | $500 |
| Mississauga | Refreshment vehicle owner's licence and refreshment vehicle driver's licence | $528.14 | $512.67 |
| Oakville | Refreshment Vehicle Class A licence with a Refreshment Vehicle Operator licence | $533 | $533 |
| Pickering | Refreshment Vehicle Licence | $546 | $546 |
| Markham | Refreshment Vehicles, Food Sales from Mobile Vehicles (All Types), Owners | $599.50 | $599.50 |
| Milton | Commercial Refreshment Vehicle Class D | $688.42 | Not published |
| Hamilton | Food Service Vehicle licence, Class A | $694.53 | Not published |
| St. Catharines | Hawkers and Peddlers Business Licence with a Food Truck and Mobile Vending Cart Park Permit | $2,556.28 | Not published |
| Toronto | Motorized Refreshment Vehicle Owner licence | $9,257.29 | $8,767.06 |
| Greater Sudbury | Refreshment Vehicle business registration | Fees are not published on the licensing page | |
| Kingston | Food Vendor licence, food carts, stands, kiosks and trucks | Fees are not published on the licensing page | |
| Guelph | Food Vehicle business licence | Fees are not published on the licensing page | |
| Cambridge | Food Truck business licence | Fees are not published on the licensing page | |
| Waterloo | Food Vehicle licence | Fees are not published on the licensing page | |
Every figure is traced to the municipality below, with the by-law it came from and the date it was checked.
Because municipalities are not pricing the same thing. Most charge a single annual licence fee and stop there. Toronto charges an application fee, then a licence fee, and then a separate Mobile Food Vending Permit which is the thing that actually lets you trade, and that permit alone costs more than a first year in any other municipality on this page. Nothing about the truck changed. The licensing structure did.
This matters most when you are choosing where to start. A first season in the cheapest municipality on this page costs less than a Toronto applicant pays before they have sold anything at all. If your concept travels, the cheapest place to prove it in may not be the one you eventually want to trade in.
Every municipality here has its own name for the same business. This is the single biggest reason people apply for the wrong thing, and it is why searching the phrase food truck licence often returns nothing useful on a city website.
No. Every municipality here accepts a sole proprietorship registration. None of them require you to incorporate.
Most of them want proof that the business exists on paper, and several want it recent. Hamilton asks for a Business Registration, Corporate Profile or Master Business Licence dated within one year of the application. Toronto asks every applicant for a Provincial Business Name Registration, and asks corporations for Articles of Incorporation or a Corporate Profile Report as well. London asks for neither unless you are a corporation, and Windsor asks only for a Business Ownership Declaration and two pieces of identification.
So the honest answer is that licensing pushes you to register, and never to incorporate. Incorporating is worth considering for different reasons, mainly personal liability if someone is hurt by your food, and credibility with landlords, event organisers and insurers. It has a cost worth knowing too: Richmond Hill requires a corporate applicant to hand the city the full name and home address of every shareholder, which a sole proprietor never has to do.
If you want the comparison without the sales pitch, our sole proprietorship versus incorporation guide lays out both sides.
Each entry below shows what the municipality charges, what it calls the licence, what it will not tell you, and where the figures came from.
Greater Toronto Area
Motorized Refreshment Vehicle Owner licence. Toronto charges twice. The owner licence lets you hold the vehicle. A separate Mobile Food Vending Permit is what actually lets you trade, and it is priced by season length.
| Owner licence applicationNon refundable, payable even if the application fails. | $286.47 |
| Owner licence fee | $1,177.67 |
| Mobile Food Vending Permit, 12 monthsSix month and nine month terms cost $3,896.58 and $5,844.88. | $7,793.15 |
| First year total | $9,257.29 |
Proof of registration: A Provincial Business Name Registration is required from every applicant. Corporations must additionally supply Articles of Incorporation or a Corporate Profile Report dated within one year.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing. Effective 2025-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Golden Horseshoe
Food Service Vehicle licence, Class A. Class A covers a vehicle that sets up in one spot rather than roaming, which the by-law calls a non travelling, site specific food premise. A catering truck, chip truck or refreshment trailer falls here. Travelling operations sit in another class.
| Processing fee$81.42 plus $10.58 HST. | $92 |
| Licence feeNo HST applied to this line. | $472 |
| Health inspection$115.51 plus $15.02 HST. Billed with the application but separate from the licence. | $130.53 |
| First year total | $694.53 |
Proof of registration: A valid Business Registration, Corporate Profile or Master Business Licence dated within one year of the application. A sole proprietorship registration satisfies this.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: By-law 07-170, Schedule 6. Effective 2026-01-20. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Northeastern Ontario
Refreshment Vehicle business registration. Sudbury sorts businesses into those that need a licence and those that need a registration, and refreshment vehicles sit on the registration side alongside food shops and eating establishments. Anyone searching for a food truck licence in Sudbury is looking for an instrument the city does not issue for this.
| Refreshment vehicle registration | Not published |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 2012-120. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Niagara Region
Hawkers and Peddlers Business Licence with a Food Truck and Mobile Vending Cart Park Permit. St. Catharines has no refreshment vehicle licence at all. Its business licence list covers everything from public halls to plumbing contractors without one, and mobile food instead goes through a seasonal programme on city owned property that runs 1 June to 30 September, with applications open only in March. It is also the only municipality here that charges outsiders more: a non-resident pays $567.60 for the same licence a resident pays $184.58 for.
| Hawkers and Peddlers business licence, resident, per seasonA non-resident pays $567.60 for the same licence, three times the resident rate. | $184.58 |
| Environmental fee, per season | $546.30 |
| Park permit for the four month seasonThe city publishes this as $456.35 a month and never totals the season. Four months of a 1 June to 30 September season is the figure used here. | $1,825.40 |
| First year total | $2,556.28 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: 2026 Fees, Food Trucks and Mobile Vending Carts programme. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Eastern Ontario
Food Vendor licence, food carts, stands, kiosks and trucks. Kingston files carts, stands, kiosks and trucks under a single Food Vendor heading and then prices them by a refreshment vehicle classification it does not publish. It is the only municipality here that advertises a range rather than a rate.
| Food Vendor licence, bottom of the published range | $92 |
| Food Vendor licence, top of the published range | $401 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licence By-law; Fees and Charges By-law. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Simcoe County / Central Ontario
Refreshment Vehicle Motorized licence. Barrie splits only motorized from non-motorized and charges the same for both. It charges that same $287.54 for nearly every general business licence it issues, a kennel, a pawnshop, a paving contractor or a food truck alike, so in Barrie the fee tells you nothing at all about the business being licensed.
| Refreshment vehicle, motorized, new or renewalNon-motorized is the same $287.54. Replacing the vehicle on an existing licence is $86.12. | $287.54 |
| First year total | $287.54 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: General Business Licensing By-law 2006-266; 2026 User Fees, Schedule B. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Wellington County / Southwestern Ontario
Food Vehicle business licence. Guelph licenses a Food Vehicle under Schedule 6 of its business licence by-law, the same term Waterloo uses and a different one again from Kitchener's Food Truck. It runs no classes, and it keeps mobile food separate from both Food Premise and Catering Company, which are schedules of their own.
| Food vehicle business licence | Not published |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licence By-law (2009)-18855, Schedule 6. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Waterloo Region
Food Truck business licence. Cambridge lists Food Truck and Ice Cream/Refreshment Vehicles as two separate licence categories, the same split Kitchener makes and the opposite of how most municipalities file mobile food under one heading. All three Waterloo Region cities separate or name the food truck differently, and none of them agree.
| Food truck business licence | Not published |
Proof of registration: The clearest statement of any municipality here: a Certificate of Articles of Incorporation, a Master Business Licence or a Certificate of a Business Name Registration, and the page says in as many words that only one of the three is required. Incorporating is one option among three, not a condition.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Food Truck By-law 129-14. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Waterloo Region
Food Vehicle licence. Waterloo calls it a Food Vehicle and defines it to include a food truck, food trailer, canteen truck or food cart. Kitchener, next door, licenses a Food Truck and writes its Refreshment Vehicle definition specifically to exclude one. Two neighbouring cities in one region, two vocabularies, and no class letters in either.
| Food Vehicle, as printed on the first of two identical rowsWas $357.17 from 1 July 2025. | $375 |
| Food Vehicle, as printed on the second of two identical rowsWas $78.74 from 1 July 2025. | $83 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Fees and Charges By-law 2026-047. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Halton Region / Greater Toronto Area
Commercial Refreshment Vehicle Class D. Milton and Burlington are neighbours in the same region and their letters are transposed. Milton's Class D is the chip truck and hot dog cart; Burlington calls that Class A. Milton's Class A is the catering truck; Burlington calls that Class C. Oakville, also Halton, uses Class A for anything motorized. Three towns in one region, three meanings for the same letter.
| Commercial refreshment vehicle Class D licenceClass A, the catering truck, is $627.78. Class B is $443.60 and Class C $437.98. Class E covers charitable functions only. | $443.60 |
| Commercial refreshment vehicle driver's licenceRequired before anyone drives or operates the vehicle, so a one person operation pays both. | $244.82 |
| First year total | $688.42 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 024-2018. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Durham Region / Greater Toronto Area
Refreshment Vehicle licence. Whitby does not class refreshment vehicles, though it prices frozen treat vehicles on their own line. What it publishes that nobody else does is a violation fee. Operating without a licence is $545.00, almost exactly twice what the licence costs, and it sits in the fee schedule as a line item rather than as a penalty.
| Refreshment vehicle licence, newA short term special event licence is $110.00, and a vehicle operating under a Town tender pays nothing. | $273 |
| First year total | $273 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Refreshment Vehicle By-law 7512-19; Consolidated Fees and Charges By-law 7220-17. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Durham Region / Greater Toronto Area
Class B Mobile Refreshment Vehicle Licence. Oshawa runs two vocabularies at once. It names four vehicle types and puts food trucks under Motorized Refreshment Vehicle, then licenses under a different set of letters where Class A is stationary, Class B is mobile and Class C is temporary. So a food truck is a Motorized vehicle holding a Class B licence, and the letter turns on whether you move rather than on what you drive.
| Application feeCharged on new applications and renewals alike. | $50 |
| New licence fee, Class BRenewal is $260.00, making $310.00 with the application fee. | $280 |
| First year total | $330 |
Proof of registration: A Business Name Registration and/or Franchise Agreement, with Articles of Incorporation only if applicable. A sole proprietorship registration satisfies the requirement.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 122-2024; Fees and Charges By-law 109-2024. Effective 2024-11-04. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Halton Region / Golden Horseshoe
Refreshment Vehicle Class A. Burlington's Class A is the itinerant food premise where some preparation happens, which the by-law spells out as chip trucks, hot dog carts and barbeque equipment. Its Class C is the catering truck. Brampton uses Class A for the catering truck, so the same letter points at the other vehicle one region over.
| Refreshment Vehicle Class A licenceClass C, catering and ice cream trucks, is $287.64. Class B, non-motorized and pre-packaged only, is $193.80. | $392.70 |
| First year total | $392.70 |
Proof of registration: By-law 42-2008 asks a corporation for its incorporating document and last annual information filed, and additionally for a list of every partner, officer, director and shareholder with their addresses and phone numbers. As in Richmond Hill, incorporating is what triggers the shareholder disclosure. Nothing requires a sole proprietor to incorporate.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 42-2008; 2026 Service Rates and Fees (By-law 92-2025). Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Durham Region / Greater Toronto Area
Refreshment Vehicle Licence. Pickering does not license mobile food under a licensing by-law at all. It sits under the Hawker and Peddler By-law, passed in 2004, and there are no classes: one refreshment vehicle licence covers the lot.
| Refreshment vehicle licencePer calendar year. | $546 |
| First year total | $546 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Hawker and Peddler By-law 6305/04. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
York Region / Greater Toronto Area
Refreshment vehicle owner's license and refreshment vehicle driver's license. Richmond Hill licenses the owner and the driver separately, and prices a refreshment cart lower again. What sets it apart is not the fee but the disclosure: Chapter 875.6.3 requires a corporate applicant to give the city the full name and home address of every shareholder.
| Refreshment vehicle owner's licence | $360 |
| Refreshment vehicle driver's licenceA refreshment cart operator's licence is $98.00. | $120 |
| First year total | $480 |
Proof of registration: Chapter 875.6.3 applies to corporations only: every corporate applicant files its articles of incorporation and the full name and home address of every shareholder. Partnerships give each partner's name and address under 875.6.1. Nothing in the chapter requires a sole proprietor to incorporate.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Municipal Code Chapter 875, Refreshment Vehicle (updated June 2023); Tariff of Fees By-law 94-23. Effective 2024-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
York Region / Greater Toronto Area
Refreshment Vehicles, Food Sales from Mobile Vehicles (All Types), Owners. Markham is the municipality that does not classify at all. Where everyone else splits mobile food into lettered or numbered classes, Markham's fee schedule has one line reading All Types, so a tricycle and a full kitchen truck pay the same. It also licenses only the owner, with no separate driver licence for refreshment vehicles.
| Refreshment vehicle owner's licenceExpires 31 March whatever the issue date. A late charge of $57.00 applies after that. | $599.50 |
| First year total | $599.50 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: By-law 2012-137, Licensing, Permit and Service Fees (consolidated to 1 January 2025). Effective 2025-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Southwestern Ontario
Mobile Vendor of Food, Class 3 (motorized with on-board kitchen). Windsor's classes track what the thing is rather than where it stops. Class 1 is a tricycle, Class 2 a pushcart, Class 3 motorized. Only Class 3 splits on price, and the split is the kitchen: a motorized vendor is $255.00 until it cooks on board, at which point it is $430.00.
| Mobile Vendor of Food, Class 3 with on-board kitchenClass 3 without an on-board kitchen, and Classes 1 and 2, are each $255.00. Renewal is the same as the new fee. | $430 |
| Food Handler photo identification cardIncludes HST and is valid five years, so it is a first year cost rather than an annual one. | $20.60 |
| First year total | $450.60 |
Proof of registration: The application asks for a Business Ownership Declaration together with two pieces of government issued identification. The page does not name a business name registration or incorporation document as a requirement.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Business Licensing By-law 395-2004, Schedule M2. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Waterloo Region
Food Truck licence. Kitchener is the one municipality here that uses the words a searcher would use. Its by-law defines a Refreshment Vehicle as a vehicle selling refreshment that shall not include a Food Truck, so the two are separate licences and a food truck applicant who follows the refreshment vehicle path is in the wrong queue.
| Food Truck licence, new | $268 |
| Food Truck licence, renewalA late renewal is $197.00. | $149 |
| First year total | $268 |
What this municipality does not publish
The municipality does not cite a by-law number on this page. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Southwestern Ontario
Refreshment Vehicle Class 1. London numbers its classes instead of lettering them, and the number tracks where you park rather than what you cook. Class 1 is a single approved location on private property, Class 2 is a sidewalk spot the Licence Manager allocates, and Class 3 moves from place to place and costs twice as much.
| Refreshment Vehicle Class 1 licenceClass 2, a sidewalk location, is also $250.00. | $250 |
| Refreshment Vehicle Class 3 licenceThe roaming alternative. Priced at twice Class 1, so in London the cost turns on whether you move. | $500 |
| First year total | $250 |
Proof of registration: Business Licensing By-law L.-131-16, s. 6.1(b) asks for articles of incorporation or a corporation profile report no more than fifteen days old only where the applicant is a corporation. A sole proprietor or partnership supplies names and addresses. London does not ask for a business name registration at all.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Fees and Charges By-law A-62, Schedule 1 (2026); Business Licensing By-law L.-131-16, Schedule 16. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Peel Region / Greater Toronto Area
Refreshment Vehicle Class C plate and Refreshment Vehicle Driver's Licence. Brampton's Class C is the stationary food truck or cart, and its Class A is a catering truck that does not stay in one place. That is close to the opposite of Hamilton, where Class A is the vehicle that does stay put. Four municipalities now use the letter A for four different things.
| Class C plate (hot dog cart or chip truck) | $291 |
| Refreshment vehicle driver's licence, one yearTwo years is $239.00. The by-law licenses the Owner and the Driver separately, so an owner who also serves needs both. | $118 |
| First year total | $409 |
Proof of registration: By-law 101-2025 s. 18(2): where the owner is a sole proprietor, the application is accompanied by a copy of the business name registration. A corporation files its incorporating documents, last annual return and business name registration under s. 18(1), and s. 18(6) accepts a Master Business Licence in lieu of a business name registration.
What this municipality does not publish
Source: Mobile Licensing By-law 101-2025 (office consolidation), s. 18 and Schedule 3. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Greater Toronto Area
Refreshment vehicle owner's licence and refreshment vehicle driver's licence. Mississauga licenses the business and the person separately. An owner who also serves needs both.
| Owner's licenceRenewal $319.93. | $329.77 |
| Driver's licenceRenewal $192.74. | $198.37 |
| First year total | $528.14 |
Proof of registration: Business registration, articles of incorporation or a corporate profile, depending on how the business is structured.
What this municipality does not publish
The municipality does not cite a by-law number on this page. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Dufferin County
Mobile Food Vendor's Licence. Orangeville prices by vehicle type and charges non residents more. A chip truck, food cart, ice cream truck, mobile lunch truck or refreshment stand all sit at the same rate. An ice cream bicycle is far cheaper.
| Chip truck, annual, residentNon resident $600. | $500 |
| Ice cream bicycle, annual, residentNon resident $120. | $100 |
| Special event food vendor, per eventNon resident $160. | $120 |
| First year total | $500 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: By-law 2025-072. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Halton Region
Refreshment Vehicle Class A licence with a Refreshment Vehicle Operator licence. Oakville also uses Class A, B and C, and means something different by them than Hamilton does. Here Class A is motorized, Class B is a non motorized structure and Class C is hand or bicycle propelled. It licenses the vehicle and the person separately, so an owner who also serves pays both.
| Refreshment vehicle Class A licenceClass B is $236.00 and Class C $233.00. A special event vehicle is $227.00 per event. | $316 |
| Refreshment vehicle operator licenceThe person rather than the vehicle. An owner who also serves needs both. | $217 |
| First year total | $533 |
What this municipality does not publish
Source: By-law 2015-075, replaced by By-law 2026-012 with effect from 4 January 2027. Effective 2026-01-01. Checked 2026-09-15. View the source
Treat it as a shortlist, not a quote. Fee schedules reset in January and at least one municipality here is replacing its licensing by-law outright in 2027.
Follow the source link for your municipality before you budget, and note the date each figure was checked. We publish what the by-law says and what it does not say, and we do not fill a gap with an estimate. If a number here disagrees with your city, the city is right and we want to know about it.
Why is Toronto so much more expensive than everywhere else?
Toronto charges twice. The Motorized Refreshment Vehicle Owner licence costs $1,464.14 to get and $973.91 a year to keep, but it does not let you trade on its own. A separate Mobile Food Vending Permit does that, and a twelve month permit is $7,793.15. Almost every guide online quotes one of those two numbers and not the sum.
Do I need to incorporate to get a food truck licence in Ontario?
No. Not one municipality here requires a corporation, and several of their by-laws say so in as many words. Brampton's by-law provides that where the owner is a sole proprietor the application is accompanied by a business name registration, and accepts a Master Business Licence in its place. Richmond Hill and London ask for articles of incorporation only where the applicant is already a corporation. London does not ask for a business name registration at all. Incorporating is a decision about liability, tax and credibility, not a licensing requirement. Read the by-law rather than the web page: Brampton's licensing page lists Articles of Incorporation with no sole proprietor alternative, and its own by-law contradicts it.
My city calls it something else. Which licence do I actually need?
That is normal and it is the main reason this page exists. Toronto licenses a Motorized Refreshment Vehicle. Hamilton licenses a Food Service Vehicle. Orangeville licenses a Mobile Food Vendor. Windsor licenses a Mobile Vendor of Food. Pickering does not have a licensing by-law for it at all and handles it under the Hawker and Peddler By-law. The sharpest trap is Kitchener, whose by-law defines a Refreshment Vehicle as a vehicle selling refreshment that shall not include a Food Truck, so the two are separate licences and the obvious one is the wrong one. The words differ, the underlying activity does not.
Is the licence all I pay, or is there a programme on top?
In most municipalities the licence is the whole story. In two it is not. Toronto charges an owner licence and then a separate Mobile Food Vending Permit that is what actually lets you trade, and the permit is the larger number by far. St. Catharines goes further and has no refreshment vehicle licence at all: mobile food runs through a seasonal programme on city owned property with a Hawkers and Peddlers licence, an environmental fee and a park permit billed monthly, which comes to roughly ten times what a licence costs in London for a season that ends on 30 September. Read past the licence line before you budget.
Is Class A the same thing in every city?
No, and the clearest proof is inside a single region. Burlington and Milton are neighbours in Halton. Burlington's Class A is the chip truck and hot dog cart, which Milton calls Class D. Milton's Class A is the catering truck, which Burlington calls Class C. Oakville, also Halton, uses Class A for anything motorized. Three towns in one region and three meanings for one letter. Further afield, Hamilton's Class A stays in one place while Brampton's Class A is a catering truck that does not. London and Windsor drop letters for numbers and still disagree: Windsor numbers by what the vehicle is, London by where it parks. Markham does not classify at all. The letter on the form tells you nothing until you read that city's own definition.
How current are these figures?
Every figure was read from the municipality's own published source and carries the date it was checked, most recently 2026-09-15. Ontario fee schedules reset in January, so treat anything here as a starting point for your own confirmation rather than a final quote, and follow the source link before you budget.
Before you apply
Every municipality on this page wants proof your business is registered, and most want it dated within the last year. It is the step people leave until last and the one that costs them a season.
See your options