Pet Store and Grooming Premises in Ontario: Toronto Pet Rules, Drains, Zoning and the Lease

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 18 October 2026 · 8 min read — what a pet store, groomer or daycare unit needs for floors, drains and noise, the Toronto licence changes in 2027, how zoning separates grooming from boarding, and the lease.

Looking for pet store or grooming 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.

Pet store, groomer or daycare: which use you are leasing for

Most of the pet tenants I work with combine retail with a service: a pet food and supply store with a grooming room at the back, a grooming salon that sells shampoo and treats, or a dog daycare that also does baths. Zoning, licensing and the landlord all care which of those is the main use, and they treat the service part very differently.

Toronto’s Zoning By-law 569-2013 draws the line clearly. Pet services means premises used to provide grooming of domestic animals, and a veterinary hospital or kennel is not pet services. A kennel means premises used for boarding, training or breeding dogs, cats or other domestic animals. A pet supply store is a retail store. Pet services is in the permitted use list of the commercial residential (CR) zone covering many Toronto main streets, and also in the employment industrial (E) zone. Kennel does not appear in the CR permitted list; it is in the E zone list. A dog daycare or boarding business in a Toronto main-street storefront may therefore need a minor variance or rezoning. Get a zoning review on the address and describe the overnight and daytime care honestly.

Mississauga’s business licence list includes both pet shops and breeding and boarding kennels. Brampton, Vaughan and Markham have their own definitions, so ask each city how a daycare is classified before you shortlist units. If you are adding veterinary services, read my veterinary facility premises guide first, because a vet clinic is a different use again.

Toronto licensing today and from February 2027

Today. Toronto requires a licence for shops where animals, including birds and fish, are sold as pets. The City’s page lists a $242.82 application fee and $545.51 licence fee ($788.33 total), annual renewal at $384.88, $1,000,000 in commercial general liability insurance, zoning approval for most new applications and a by-law enforcement inspection. Every application is also referred to the Medical Officer of Health. The City describes current practice as pet shops sourcing dogs and cats from animal shelters, humane societies, rescue groups and, in some cases, owner surrenders.

From 1 February 2027. City Council approved new rules for animal-related businesses in July 2025. A single Pet Establishment licence will replace the Pet Shop licence and also cover businesses that board, breed, train or groom animals, including pet daycares, groomers and kennels. Veterinary practices, shelters and rescues are not pet establishments. Businesses add endorsements for animal sales or adoptions, breeding, daycare, boarding and training, grooming, and overnight keeping, with no extra fee for endorsements. All pet establishments must meet standards for animal care, feeding and handling, housing, cleanliness and sanitation, record keeping and insurance. Businesses keeping animals for sale or adoption must source dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs from animal centres, registered humane societies, registered rescue groups, or owner surrenders at no charge. The City notes an exception for purebred animals and says more detail and a self-assessment tool are coming in fall 2026.

What the unit must have

Toronto’s current pet shop rules in Chapter 545 already describe much of what the space needs. Where animal quarters are part of, or attached to, a building the public uses, they must have a concrete or other impermeable floor with a drain built as a plumbing fixture, and the floor must be washed at least daily. The shop must be kept sanitary, well ventilated and free from offensive odours, with lighting good enough to observe every animal. Animals showing signs of illness must be kept in a separate quarantine area until cured, and an attendant must be present during business hours whenever the operator is away.

Two rules affect the storefront itself. A licensed pet shop must display a sign reading "Licensed Pet Shop" in letters at least 15 centimetres high over the street door, in the lower front window or another approved spot, and animals may only be displayed in a shop window at the rear of the window, out of draughts and direct sun. A bright south-facing window full of puppies is not an option, so plan the display around products instead.

Ontario’s animal welfare standards under the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act (O. Reg. 444/19) also apply to every animal: adequate food and water, medical attention, resting areas, space to move, sanitary conditions, ventilation, light and protection from harmful temperatures, with enclosures in good repair and made of safe, non-injurious materials.

Drains, plumbing and the building permit

Grooming puts hair, shampoo and grit into drains all day. Most units were plumbed for a single washroom, and the drain line may be on the wrong side of the unit. Adding tubs and a floor drain usually means cutting the slab and a plumbing permit, and the landlord will want the work done by their approved trades. Install hair traps on every tub and keep them on a cleaning schedule; a blocked shared drain in a plaza becomes your cost under most leases.

If the unit was previously a store or office, ask your designer whether bringing in animals and wet grooming is a change of use under the Building Code. Ontario’s Building Code Act requires a permit for a change of use that increases the hazard, even without construction, and Toronto Building says a change of use needs a permit. My change of use guide explains how that review works.

Noise and odour: the neighbour problem

Toronto’s noise by-law (Chapter 591) prohibits anyone from causing or permitting persistent noise, including barking, calling or whining, from any animal kept or used for any purpose. That rule doesn’t care whether your lease allows dogs. A daycare with twenty dogs next to a dental office or under apartments will generate complaints, and complaints lead to by-law enforcement and landlord default notices.

Practical steps I build into deals: choose end units or units beside other noisy or high-traffic uses, ask the landlord whether demising walls run to the underside of the deck, budget for sound insulation, and avoid units directly below residential suites. Odour works the same way. The pet shop rules require the premises to be free from offensive odours, and a shared ceiling plenum can carry smells to the next tenant.

The lease clauses that matter for a pet store or groomer

1. Use clause. Name every activity: retail sale of pet food, supplies and, if planned, animals or adoptions; grooming; bathing; daycare; training; boarding and overnight stays. See my use clause guide.
2. Licensing and zoning condition. A conditional period for the zoning review and the City licence, with the landlord signing the occupancy declaration Toronto requires.
3. Plumbing work. Landlord consent to cut the slab for drains, install tubs and upgrade hot water, and agreement on who pays.
4. HVAC and exhaust. Permission to add exhaust and increase air changes, and confirmation the unit is on its own system rather than a shared return.
5. Noise and odour. Negotiate a reasonable standard, not a blanket "no noise or odour" covenant you can’t meet, and a cure period before default.
6. Exclusive. Pet supplies, grooming and daycare, so the landlord doesn’t lease the next unit to a competitor.
7. Outdoor areas. If dogs need a relief area, get its location, fencing and cleaning obligations in writing. Without it, assume you have none.
8. Hours and access. Early drop-off and late pickup for daycare, and 24-hour access if animals stay overnight.
9. Restoration. Limit removal obligations for tubs, drains and wall finishes at the end of the term.

Deal-killers to check on a viewing

• Zoning that doesn’t allow kennel uses. In Toronto, kennel isn’t in the CR zone’s permitted list, which rules out many main-street units for daycare or boarding without a variance.
• Residential above. Barking and odour complaints from apartments are hard to cure.
• No way to add a floor drain. Structural slabs over parking, or no access to the sanitary line, can make a compliant animal area impractical.
• Shared HVAC. Odour and dander spread through a common return to every tenant on the system.
• Medical or food tenants next door. Clinics and restaurants are the most likely to complain and the least likely to tolerate animal traffic in the corridor.
• No parking for drop-off. Grooming and daycare depend on quick pickup and drop-off at the door.

If you are comparing a pet business with other service salons, my hair salon premises guide covers the plumbing side of wet services in detail.

Where I fit

I help pet store, grooming and daycare owners find units across Toronto and the GTA, and I check zoning for pet services versus kennel uses, the plumbing and the neighbours before you commit. I read the lease with you and push for a use clause, plumbing consent and a workable noise standard like the clauses above, and if you are buying an existing store the retail store valuation tool gives a first read on price.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• City of Toronto — Pet Shops licence — current requirements, fees, sourcing, insurance
• City of Toronto — Pet Establishments (effective February 1, 2027) — new licence, endorsements, sourcing rule
• City of Toronto — Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing — Article XX pet shop floor, drain, ventilation, quarantine
• City of Toronto — Zoning By-law 569-2013, Chapter 800 Definitions — pet services and kennel
• City of Toronto — Zoning By-law 569-2013, Chapter 40.10 CR Zone — pet services permitted
• City of Toronto — Zoning By-law 569-2013, Chapter 60.20 Employment Industrial Zone — kennel and pet services permitted
• City of Toronto — Municipal Code Chapter 591, Noise — persistent animal noise
• Ontario e-Laws — O. Reg. 444/19, Standards of Care and Administrative Requirements — basic standards of care for all animals
• City of Mississauga — Business licensing — pet shop and kennel licences

Related reading

• Veterinary facility premises
• Hair salon premises
• Change of use permits for tenants
• The commercial lease use clause
• Buying a veterinary practice
• The use clause in a commercial lease