Pet Care and Services - business guide
Before You apply
What are pet care services?
A business that cares for, boards, breeds or sells animals requires a municipal business licence.
Do you need a licence?
Examples of businesses that do require municipal licensing:
- Pet boarding
- Breeding animals
- Selling animals
- Pet training
- Pet stores
Examples of businesses that do not require municipal licensing:
- Pet daycares that do not offer overnight boarding services
- Dog walking*
- Animal grooming*
- Veterinary clinics where animals are only kept on the premises while receiving medical treatment
- A person who owns three or fewer animals kept as personal pets and sells no more than one litter of offspring from each animal in any calendar year
- The Calgary Humane Society
- Alberta Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
* A business licence is required for doggy day cares, animal day cares, groomers, animal walkers, etc. when the licensee kennels (overnight boarding) one or more animals for any length of time at the place of business, commercial or home-based.
* A business licence is not required for animal walkers who pick-up an animal from the owner for the sole purpose of walking the animal and returning the animal to the owner immediately afterward. A business licence is not required for grooming and caring for an animal, if the grooming or care takes place at the animal owner’s premises.
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.
What are the rules?
Home-based animal boarding
Generally discouraged by The City due to the potential impacts on the surrounding community. Home-based businesses applying for a kennel service/pet dealer licence are subject to review prior to approval.
Record keeping
Kennel service/pet dealer businesses must keep a record, written or electronic, that permanently and legibly has the following information:
- The name and address of the supplier for each animal purchased.
- The date of purchase.
- A full description of the animal.
- The name and address of the buyer of each animal.
- The date of each sale.
A kennel service/pet dealer must:
- Not erase, deface or alter an entry in the record kept, pursuant to the list above.
- Not direct or allow any person to erase, deface or alter an entry in the record, pursuant to the list above.
- Immediately provide on demand the record kept, pursuant to the list above, to a licence inspector.
How much will it cost?
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.
How long will it take?
Timelines indicated are not a guarantee and depend on volumes, application completeness, and the applicant’s timely replies to additional information requests from the City.
Review information on timelines and the approvals process.
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
- Two pieces of government issued identification
Tips for a smooth application process
Before you apply
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
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 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
How to check the status of your licence
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.
What are the required approvals?
Once you apply for your business licence, outstanding approvals must be completed before the business licence is issued.
A business licence will often have multiple licence types associated with it. Below is a chart of all the related licence types that fall under this business activity. If your business requires multiple licence types, approval processes are only generated once per licence. For example, only one fire inspection is required even if multiple licence types require that inspection.
Required approvals
| Licence Type | Land use | Police | Fire | Health | Provincial | AMVIC | ID card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kennel Service/Pet Dealer | Required | Not required | Required | Not required | Not required | Not required | Not required |
| Retail Dealer - Premises | Required | Not required | Required | Not required | Not required | Not required | Not required |
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 mulit-residential for more information, or contact our Planning Services Centre at 403-268-5311 to investigate land use approval for your business.
Fire Prevention Bureau approval
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.
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