Flower Shop Premises in Ontario: Walk-In Cooler, Water, Delivery Parking and the Lease

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 18 October 2026 · 10 min read — what a florist’s unit needs for cold storage, water and drainage, the permits for coolers, sidewalk displays and signs, delivery parking, peak seasons, and the lease.

Looking for flower shop space in Toronto or the GTA? Tell me what you need and I will send you units that fit, with the zoning and the lease checked before you commit.

What a flower shop unit must have

A florist is a retail store with a small production room behind it. The front sells, and the back receives boxes of wholesale stems, strips and conditions them, builds arrangements and holds everything cold until it goes out the door. Most of the premises questions come from the back room.

• Space for a walk-in cooler, or at least a glass-front display cooler, with a path for the condensing unit’s heat to go somewhere.
• Water close to the work table: a deep sink for buckets, hot and cold water, and a floor that can get wet without damage.
• Drainage for bucket water, cooler condensate and floor washing.
• Electrical capacity for the cooler, display fridges, lighting and, in many shops, a second cooler added within a few years.
• A delivery door and somewhere to park the van that does not involve carrying 40 buckets through the front of the store.
• Storage for vases, ribbon, foam and wedding props, which multiply quickly.

None of this is exotic, but a unit that was an office, a phone store or a clothing boutique usually has none of it. You are paying for the plumbing and power run unless the lease says otherwise.

The walk-in cooler: power, refrigeration and the roof

The cooler is the biggest single fit-out decision. A prefabricated walk-in needs a dedicated electrical circuit and a condensing unit. The condensing unit sits either on top of the box, which dumps heat into your shop, or outside on the roof or a rear wall, which needs the landlord’s consent and a roof or wall penetration.

• Electrical. The Electrical Safety Authority says only a Licensed Electrical Contractor can be hired for electrical work in Ontario, and a notification of work must be filed before the work starts. Ask whether the unit’s existing panel has room for the cooler, or whether the service needs an upgrade. That can take months if the utility is involved.
• Refrigerant work. Under section 22 of Ontario’s O. Reg. 463/10, only a person certified under that regulation may service or test refrigeration equipment that contains a refrigerant. Buying a used cooler from a closing shop and having a handyman move it is not an option.
• Building permit. Ask the building department whether your cooler, the new partition walls around the work room, and any rooftop equipment need a permit. In my experience the answer for the plumbing and partitions is usually yes.

Water and drainage

Florists use a lot of water and spill a lot of it. You need a work sink deep enough for buckets near the processing table, a floor drain or at least a mop sink, and a floor finish that tolerates standing water. Sealed concrete or commercial vinyl is better than laminate. The cooler also produces condensate that needs a drain.

Adding a sink or a floor drain is plumbing work. Toronto issues plumbing and drain work as a building permit, either with your other fit-out work or as a stand-alone plumbing or drain permit with plumbing plans. In Toronto, plumbing contractors and plumbers must also hold a City licence under Chapter 545, so check that your contractor has one. In an older plaza, ask where the nearest drain stack is. Breaking a slab to run a drain across a unit is expensive, and the lease should say whether you have to restore the slab when you leave.

Two smaller checks. Find out whether water is separately metered or billed through additional rent, because a florist’s water use is higher than a typical retailer’s and a pro-rata share can go either way. And if the unit has no hot water tank, ask who owns and maintains the one you install.

Licences, permits and zoning

Toronto’s Municipal Code Chapter 545 lists the businesses that need a City licence. A florist selling flowers and plants is not one of the listed categories. If you also sell pre-packaged chocolates, snacks or drinks, though, the City’s licensing pages say that a business offering pre-packaged food or drink for consumption off-site needs a Take-out or Retail Food Establishment licence, under the framework the City updated on January 1, 2025. Plenty of gift-focused florists cross that line without noticing.

For zoning, Toronto’s Zoning By-law 569-2013 defines a “Retail Store” as premises in which goods or commodities are sold, rented or leased. A florist fits that definition, so a zone that allows retail generally allows a flower shop. A wholesale-only design studio in an industrial unit is a different question. The by-law has a separate “Wholesaling Use” for sales only to retailers or other businesses, so check which use your industrial zone permits. In Mississauga, Brampton and York Region, confirm the permitted uses with the local zoning office. Most will issue a zoning certificate or letter for a fee.

Sidewalk displays and signs

Buckets of flowers on the sidewalk sell flowers. In Toronto, displaying goods outside a store on City property or the sidewalk needs a marketing display permit under the Sidewalk Cafés, Parklets and Marketing Displays by-law. The goods displayed must be similar to what you sell inside. The application calls for a scaled site plan showing distances to the curb, hydrants, trees and poles, three photos, and a certificate of at least $2,000,000 in insurance sent directly by your insurance representative. Applications are online only.

If the display area is private plaza property rather than City sidewalk, the City permit does not apply, but the lease does. Most plaza leases ban outdoor display unless the landlord approves it in writing, so get the approval, the size of the area and the hours into the lease.

For the storefront sign, section 694-5 of Toronto’s Sign By-law says no one may put up a sign without a sign permit. The application includes a declaration that the property owner consented, so the lease should commit the landlord to give that consent for a sign that meets the plaza’s sign criteria.

Delivery parking and loading

Your van leaves early for the wholesale market and comes back loaded, then runs deliveries all day. The lease and the site need to work for that:

• Rear or side door. Unloading through the sales floor wastes time and damages stock. A rear door to a service lane is worth paying for.
• Loading area. Don’t assume one exists. Toronto’s Zoning By-law 569-2013 (regulation 220.5.10.1) requires no loading space for a building with less than 500 square metres of retail, eating establishment or personal service floor area. Many small strips and storefront buildings have nowhere to stop a van legally.
• Dedicated stalls. Ask for one or two reserved stalls near your door, in writing, and make sure the landlord’s parking rules allow commercial vehicles overnight.
• Street parking. On a main street, check the posted rush-hour and loading restrictions in front of the unit before you rely on curbside deliveries.
• After-hours access. Wedding and event work means setups at 5 a.m. and pickups at midnight. Confirm that the building’s alarm, doors and HVAC let you in outside plaza hours.

Seasonal peaks: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and wedding season

A flower shop can do a large share of its year in a few weeks, and the premises have to stretch for those weeks without paying for that space all year.

• Overflow cold storage. Some shops rent a refrigerated trailer for the week before Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day. If you plan to, the lease has to allow a trailer in the lot, a place to plug it in, and the noise.
• Tents and outdoor sales. A tent in the parking lot for Mother’s Day needs landlord consent and may need a permit. Brampton’s temporary tent package, for example, says a building permit is required for a tent or group of tents over 60 square metres in aggregate. Check your municipality’s rule and the landlord’s insurance requirements well before the date.
• Extra waste. Stems, foliage and packaging pile up fast. Confirm whether the plaza bins can take your organics at peak times, or whether you need your own hauler. The Ontario Fire Code says combustible materials must not accumulate in or around a building in a way that creates a fire hazard, and boxes stacked in the exit corridor do exactly that.
• Staff and parking. Seasonal staff and walk-in traffic peak together. A plaza with a busy restaurant next door may run out of parking on the very evening you need it.

The lease clauses that matter for a flower shop

1. Permitted use. “Retail florist, including the sale of fresh and artificial flowers, plants, gifts and related products, floral design, event floral services and delivery.” Add pre-packaged chocolates and similar gifts if you will sell them. My use clause guide explains why the wording matters.
2. Exclusive. Ask for an exclusive on fresh-cut flowers as a primary use. A grocery anchor will usually be carved out, so get the carve-out defined narrowly.
3. Landlord’s work or allowance. Who pays for the sink, floor drain, hot water and the cooler circuit. If the landlord does the work, attach drawings to the lease.
4. Rooftop and exterior equipment. The right to place a condensing unit on the roof or wall, who hires the roofer, and how the roof warranty is protected.
5. Utilities. Separate metering for hydro and water, or a written method of allocation that reflects actual use.
6. Outdoor display and seasonal use. A defined sidewalk or walkway display area, and the right to a tent or refrigerated trailer for set dates each year.
7. Parking and loading. Reserved stalls, overnight van parking and access to the rear door.
8. Access and hours. 24-hour access to the premises, and HVAC outside plaza hours.
9. Restoration on exit. Whether the cooler, sink and drain stay, and whether you must patch the slab and roof when you leave.

Deal-killers to check on a viewing

• No drain anywhere near the back. Ask the landlord for the mechanical drawings, or bring a plumber.
• Undersized electrical panel with no spare capacity for a cooler.
• A landlord who refuses rooftop equipment and a unit too small to keep the condenser heat inside.
• No rear access and no legal place to stop a van out front.
• A grocery anchor or another florist with an exclusive on flowers.
• Carpet or laminate floors you would have to rip out at your own cost.

Many of these checks overlap with food tenants who need cold storage. My grocery store premises guide and bakery premises guide go deeper on refrigeration and drainage. If the unit was previously something other than retail, read my change of use guide before you sign.

Where I fit

I help florists across Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville and the rest of the GTA find units with the drain, power and rear access a flower shop needs, so the fit-out budget goes into the business rather than the slab. I check zoning before you sign, read the exclusives and outdoor display rules, and negotiate the cooler, roof and parking terms into the lease. If you are buying an existing shop, my retail store valuation tool gives you a starting number.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• City of Toronto: Marketing display permit — sidewalk displays, site plan, $2M insurance
• City of Toronto: Take-out or Retail Food Establishment licence — pre-packaged food sales need a licence; January 1, 2025 changes
• Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing — list of licensed businesses; plumbers licensed
• Ontario e-Laws: O. Reg. 463/10, Ozone Depleting Substances and Other Halocarbons — s. 22 certified persons only for refrigeration servicing
• Electrical Safety Authority: Find a Licensed Electrical Contractor — LEC requirement, notification before work
• City of Toronto Zoning By-law 569-2013, Chapter 800 Definitions — Retail Store and Wholesaling Use
• City of Toronto: Stand-alone plumbing and drain permits — plumbing work is a building permit
• Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 694, Signs, General — s. 694-5 sign permit and owner consent
• City of Brampton: Temporary tent permit package — permit for tents over 60 square metres

Related reading

• Grocery store premises in Ontario
• Bakery premises requirements in Ontario
• Bridal and formal wear store premises
• The commercial lease use clause
• Change of use permits for commercial tenants
• Retail store valuation tool
• The use clause in a commercial lease