Bed and Breakfasts • Country Inns • Cottage Rentals

All Bed and Breakfast Establishments, Country Inns, and Cottage Rentals in the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake must be licensed in order to operate.

A new application is subject to a $110 start fee.

A complete licensing package is available from the Clerk’s department. This package contains the following:
  • Bed and Breakfast Establishment • Country Inn • Cottage Rental License Application Form
  • Sample Certificate of Insurance
  • Current licensing By-law 4016-06 and 4016A-08; Zoning By-law 500LJ-97; Policy No. CS-BLE-002B
  • By-law Enforcement Department Guidelines and Fire and Emergency Services Guidelines 
  • Special Events Notification Form

Please note it is the applicant’s responsibility to contact the By-law Enforcement Department and Fire and Emergency Services to schedule the required inspections.

The Niagara Regional Public Health Department (905) 688-3762 will only inspect and approve licenses for facilities that: 1.) Contain five or more bedrooms; 2.) Operate a swimming pool; and, 3.) Are on a private water system e.g. well or cistern.

Procedure:

It should be noted that only complete applications, with all required documents, will be accepted. Incomplete applications will be returned to the applicant.

 

Please allow a minimum of four (4) weeks for a complete application to be processed.

 

1.   All applicants must complete the application form in full and return it with the following:

 

a)       Payment to the Corporation of the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake (Fees outlined in Schedule “A” of By-law 4016-06). There has been no increase in license fees for 2008-2009.

b)       A clear and legible site plan drawn to scale (preferably a Plan of Survey) (Section 10 (a) of By-law 4016-06) that includes:

• the location of the building on the property with setbacks indicated from all property lines

• the location and dimensions of the parking area and the required parking spaces

• driveway access to the required parking spaces

• the location and dimensions of the outdoor amenity area, which must have a minimum area of 47 square metres with no dimension less than 6 metres

 

c)    Certificate of Insurance from your insurance provider identifying separate liability insurance coverage for a Bed and Breakfast Establishment, Country Inn, or Cottage Rental for a minimum $2,000,000 including the insured property address and expiry date of policy. A certificate is also required to be supplied to the Town Clerk for the second year of the license.
 

d)       A floor plan, for each floor in the building, drawn to scale to identify all rooms within the building including the guest bedrooms that will be rented, the licensed operators living quarters and all other rooms labelled as to their usage.

 

e)       A list of motor vehicles that are used and/or stored on-site by the residents of the licensed premises including the license plate numbers of the vehicles.

f)        If the property is leased, a signed statement from the property owner must be attached to the application. The statement is to include: 1.) that the owner permits the property being licensed; and, 2.) that the applicant has a lease that covers the entire license period.

 

2.   Upon receipt of a complete application and payment of the fee, the Clerk's Department will forward the application to:

• By-law Enforcement Department                   (905) 468-3266 ext. 278

• Fire and Emergency Services                       (905) 468-3266 ext. 261

• Building Services (internal review of zoning and building permit status - applicant will be contacted if required)

• Finance Department (internal review of municipal tax/water/hydro account status)

 

It is the applicant’s responsibility to contact the By-law Enforcement Department and Fire and Emergency Services to schedule inspections. Please allow a minimum of 5 business days after submitting the application before calling.

 

3.   Once the license has been issued signs may be obtained from the Clerk’s Department (as per Sign By-law 4007-06).

• Bed and Breakfast             $28 refundable deposit

• Vacancy                           $17 non refundable

• No Vacancy                      $17 non refundable

Fire Department Guidelines