Entertainment Venue Premises in Ontario: Escape Rooms, Simulators, Axe Throwing and the Lease

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 18 October 2026 · 8 min read — how escape rooms, golf simulators, axe throwing, arcades and trampoline parks are licensed in Toronto and Peel, which attractions TSSA regulates, assembly occupancy and change of use, and the lease.

Looking for entertainment venue 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 counts as an entertainment venue

This guide covers the “experience” businesses that now fill former big-box stores, plaza end caps and industrial units across the GTA: escape rooms, golf simulators, axe throwing, VR arcades, classic arcades, trampoline parks, mini golf and go-karts. They share three problems that ordinary retail does not have. The city usually licenses them as amusements. The building code usually treats them as assembly occupancies, which is a change of use from retail or warehouse. And some attractions are regulated devices under provincial law.

If your concept is mainly pool tables or karaoke, see my billiards and karaoke lounge guide; if it is mainly for young children, see my indoor playground guide.

Licensing in Toronto: the Amusement Establishment licence

Since January 1, 2025, Toronto licenses this category as an Amusement Establishment: a business that offers or permits any type of amusement activity for patrons. The City’s examples are bowling, video arcades and arcade games, archery, axe throwing, carnivals, internet cafés, miniature golf, golf driving ranges, go-kart courses, roller-skating rinks, billiards or pool, trampolines, rebound tumbling, and other similar activities. From February 1, 2027, animal attractions will be added, with new rules on animal care, housing, cleanliness, records and noise. Fitness facilities, recreation centres and community centres are excluded.

• You need an approved Zoning Review for Business Licence before applying, using the City’s Amusement Establishment zoning compliance form.
• You need an Occupancy Declaration signed by the landlord and a certificate of insurance showing $1,000,000 commercial general liability.
• Go-kart operators must also submit a TSSA amusement device licence.
• The City lists $477.44 for a new licence and $275.60 to renew.

Escape rooms, golf simulators and VR are not named on Toronto’s list. They may fall under “other similar activities”, or be treated differently, so ask Municipal Licensing and Standards which category applies before you sign. The zoning by-law’s definitions are worth reading too: an “amusement arcade” is premises for entertainment with amusement devices such as arcade games, while a “recreation use” covers sports, physical play or exercise, such as a fitness club, bowling alley or skating rink. Which one your concept is affects which zones permit it.

Licensing in Brampton and Mississauga

Brampton has a Place of Amusement licence with four classes. Class A is an amusement arcade (four or more amusement machines). Class B covers amusement activities and names privately owned escape rooms, commercial skating, commercial pools, indoor children’s playgrounds, zip-lining, paintball, go-karts, knife and axe throwing, rock climbing and virtual reality. Class C is billiard halls and Class D bowling alleys. Requirements include zoning review, fire department approval, $2,000,000 commercial general liability insurance, a separate licence for each location, and compliance with the Building Code and Fire Code. A person over 18 must supervise at all times, children under 14 may only use amusement machines when accompanied except at set times, and alcohol is not allowed unless the amusement is incidental to an AGCO-licensed business. The fee is $272, and licences expire January 31.

Mississauga issues an amusement arcade licence for businesses providing amusement devices, defined as coin-operated machines; a mechanical ride is not an amusement device. Class A is where devices are the main business and Class B where they are secondary. It requires at least $2,000,000 general liability insurance and a Zoning Certificate of Occupancy, and costs $379.02 new or $366.35 to renew. Other concepts may need other Mississauga licences, so ask 311 early.

Which attractions TSSA regulates

Ontario’s Amusement Devices regulation, O. Reg. 221/01, defines an amusement device as a machine, structure, vehicle or device used to entertain people by moving them, and says no one may carry on the business of operating one without a licence (s. 4). It then exempts a long list of devices (s. 2(2)).

Change of use, assembly occupancy and the building

Most entertainment venues move into space built as retail or warehouse. Section 10 of the Building Code Act says no one may change the use of a building or part of a building in a way that increases the hazard, as determined under the Building Code, without a permit from the chief building official, even if no construction is planned. Toronto’s amusement zoning form says the same thing in plainer words: a building permit may be required if alterations are proposed or a new major occupancy is introduced. Turning a store or warehouse bay into a space where crowds gather usually does both. What your architect will look at:

• Exits. Number, width and travel distance for the occupant load you want.
• Sprinklers and fire alarm. Whether the change requires new or upgraded systems depends on the building’s size, construction and occupancy, and it can be the biggest cost in the project.
• Clear ceiling height. Golf simulators, trampolines and axe lanes need height to the lowest obstruction, which is often a sprinkler head, duct or beam, not the deck. Measure it yourself against the equipment supplier’s specification.
• Washrooms and accessibility for the new occupant load.
• Structure. Trampoline frames, suspended screens and climbing walls put loads on floors and roofs that need an engineer.

My change of use permit guide goes through the permit itself.

Occupant load and fire safety

The Ontario Fire Code, O. Reg. 213/07, sets the occupant load of an assembly space as the lower of a calculated figure and what the exits can serve under the Building Code. Its table gives floor area per person for different uses, for example 9.30 m² for bowling alleys and pool rooms, 0.95 m² for non-fixed seats with tables, 1.10 m² for dining and drinking space, 2.80 m² for exhibition halls and 0.40 m² for standing space. Where a space is designed for a set number of people, the occupant load can be based on that number, and a permanent sign showing it must be posted. Any occupant load over 60 must be posted. Buildings with an assembly occupancy must have a fire safety plan, and your staff need to know it.

Insurance, waivers and safety

Insurance is often the hardest box to tick for axe throwing, trampolines and go-karts. Cities set minimums (Toronto $1,000,000, Brampton and Mississauga’s arcade licence $2,000,000), but your landlord’s lease will usually ask for more and require the landlord to be named as an additional insured. Get a quote for your specific activity before you sign the offer, because some insurers will not write certain attractions at all. Expect the landlord to ask for your operating manual, staff training, participant waivers and incident procedures.

The lease clauses that matter for an entertainment venue

1. Permitted use. List every attraction you plan, and add “and similar amusement and recreational activities” so you can change the mix later.
2. Conditions. Zoning confirmation of your actual use, the municipal amusement licence, building permit approval and, for rides, TSSA approval.
3. Landlord’s work. Who pays for sprinkler, fire alarm, exit and washroom upgrades triggered by the change of use. This is often the biggest number in the deal.
4. Fixturing period long enough for permits and construction. Change-of-use permits and sprinkler work take time.
5. Alterations and restoration. Agree now what you must remove at the end: trampoline pits, lanes, rooms, screens.
6. Insurance. Fix the required limits in the lease so they cannot be raised beyond what your insurer will provide.
7. Hours and noise. Evening and weekend hours and the right to amplified sound at a reasonable level.
8. Parking. Group bookings arrive together. Confirm the parking count you can use at peak times.
9. Exclusive. No competing entertainment use in the property.

Deal-killers to check on a viewing

• Zoning that does not permit an amusement or recreation use in the unit.
• Clear height below your equipment supplier’s minimum once sprinklers and ducts are counted.
• Only one exit, or exits that cannot serve your target occupant load.
• An unsprinklered building where the change of use would require sprinklers and the landlord will not contribute.
• No insurer willing to cover your attraction at the limits the landlord wants.
• A landlord who refuses alterations such as pits, lanes or heavy installations.
• Parking shared with a busy anchor at the same peak hours.

For fitness-type uses, such as climbing or ninja gyms, my gym and fitness studio guide covers the overlap.

Where I fit

I help entertainment operators find plaza, big-box and industrial space across Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and the GTA, and I check zoning, clear height and exits before you fall for a unit. I read the lease before you sign and push the landlord on who pays for change-of-use work. Read my use clause guide before you send an offer.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• City of Toronto — Amusement Establishment licence — activities covered, fees, insurance, 2027 change
• City of Toronto — Amusement Establishment review for zoning compliance — zoning review, permit for new major occupancy
• City of Toronto — Zoning By-law 569-2013, Chapter 800 Definitions — amusement arcade, recreation use
• City of Brampton — Place of Amusement licence requirements — classes incl. escape rooms, rules, fee
• City of Mississauga — Apply for an amusement arcade licence — classes, insurance, fees
• Ontario e-Laws — O. Reg. 221/01: Amusement Devices — definition, licence, exemptions
• TSSA — Amusement devices: frequently asked questions — trampolines, inflatables, climbing walls
• Ontario e-Laws — O. Reg. 213/07: Fire Code — occupant load table, posting, fire safety plan
• Ontario e-Laws — Building Code Act, 1992, s. 10 — permit for change of use

Related reading

• Billiards and karaoke lounge premises
• Indoor playground premises in Ontario
• Gym and fitness studio premises
• Change of use permits for commercial tenants
• Warehouse and industrial space in Ontario
• The use clause in a commercial lease