Guides
The reference material we wish existed when we started.
Long-form, kept current, and written to be genuinely useful before you ever call us. No email required, nothing gated.
- Guides
- 6
- Gated
- None
- Region
- Ontario
- Updated
- 2026
Before You Sign: Choosing a Space for a Food Business in Ontario
The unit you sign decides most of your budget before a single drawing exists. Here is what to check on site, what to ask the landlord, and the lease clauses that cost operators the most money.
- The building either has the services a kitchen needs, or you pay to bring them in
- Confirm zoning and change of use before the offer, not after
- Unpermitted previous work becomes your obligation the day you take occupancy
Read the guide→
Updated September 2026
Opening a Restaurant in Ontario: The Complete Timeline
Every phase of an Ontario restaurant project, what runs in parallel, who is involved, where the money goes out, and the points where schedules realistically slip.
- Design and approvals take longer than most operators plan for, and cannot be compressed by paying more
- Long-lead equipment must be ordered before construction is finished, not after
- Occupancy depends on a chain of final inspections, any one of which can hold the opening
Read the guide→
Updated September 2026
Commercial Kitchen Ventilation, Explained
Hood type, exhaust volume, make-up air, fire suppression and the route to the roof. Why ventilation is usually the largest single mechanical cost in a food buildout, and what decisions move it.
- Your menu selects your hood type, and the hood type sets the rest of the mechanical scope
- Exhaust without tempered make-up air does not work, and make-up air is often the bigger cost
- The building has to physically accommodate the duct route and the rooftop equipment
Read the guide→
Updated September 2026
Opening a Grocery Store in Ontario
Grocery buildouts are a refrigeration and layout problem before they are a construction problem. What drives the budget, what the departments add, and where independent operators most often get caught.
- Refrigeration is the largest capital item and the largest ongoing operating cost
- Adding a butcher, bakery or hot table turns a retail fit-out into a food premises project
- Cost per square foot falls as the store grows, because the fixed costs spread
Read the guide→
Updated September 2026
Opening a Café or Bakery in Ontario
Cafés and bakeries are cheaper to build than restaurants, but only if the menu stays on the right side of one line. Cross it and you inherit a restaurant's mechanical budget without a restaurant's covers.
- One hot item can move you from a Type 2 hood to a Type 1 and change the whole budget
- Water, drainage and electrical usually matter more than floor area
- Bakeries are a production problem — the ovens and the storage decide the layout
Read the guide→
Updated September 2026
What the Health Unit Actually Checks
Public health plan review runs alongside the building permit and asks completely different questions. Here is what a reviewer is looking for, why submissions come back, and what to settle before you draw.
- Plan review is about food flow, surfaces and sinks — not structure or life safety
- Sink count and placement is the single most common reason for comments
- Every surface a reviewer sees must be smooth, non-absorbent and cleanable
Read the guide→
Updated September 2026
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