Jewellery Store Premises in Ontario: Safes, Security, Gold Licences, FINTRAC and the Lease

By Jatin Dua · Broker of Record, RE/MAX Quantum Realty · Updated 18 October 2026 · 8 min read — what a jewellery unit needs for safes, security and counters, when buying gold or used jewellery needs a municipal licence, the FINTRAC and marking rules, and the lease.

Looking for jewellery store 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 the unit must have

Jewellery is the retail use where the building matters most for security and the least for size. A 600 square foot unit can hold a very large inventory. That concentration of value is what your insurer, the landlord and your own risk plan will focus on.

Ask for the building’s structural drawings or have an engineer look at the slab before you choose the safe location. Ground-floor slab-on-grade units are the easy case. A second-floor unit in a mall, or a unit over an underground garage, needs an engineer’s letter on point loads before the safe is delivered.

Security work: permits, wiring and the landlord's consent

Security work touches the building, so the lease has to allow it and some of it needs permits.

• Electrical. Ontario’s Electrical Safety Authority says anyone you hire to do electrical work must be a licensed electrical contractor, and a Notification of Work must be filed before, or within 48 hours of, the start of work. That covers new circuits for alarms, cameras, lighting and electric strikes on doors.
• Building permits. Toronto Building’s permit guide lists adding or removing walls as a material alteration requiring a permit. A new vault room, a reinforced partition or cutting into the structure falls into that category. Your designer should confirm what needs a permit before the contractor starts.
• Storefront changes. Shutters, new glazing and exterior signage may need landlord approval under the plaza’s criteria and a city sign or building permit. In Toronto, nearly every sign needs a permit under Chapter 694, and the application needs the owner’s consent.

Write all of this into the lease as approved tenant work, with the landlord agreeing that alarm codes and camera footage are yours, and that the landlord will give notice before entering outside business hours except in an emergency.

Buying gold and used jewellery: municipal licences

Toronto’s licensing chapter has no separate category for selling new jewellery. The licence question starts when you buy from the public.

Toronto. Chapter 545 of the Municipal Code has a separate article for dealers in old gold and other precious metals and jewellery. It applies to anyone who, for hire or gain, deals in old gold, other precious metals or old jewellery for the purpose of smelting and recovering the gold. The rules that come with the licence shape the counter and back room:

• 15-day hold. Old gold, precious metals and old jewellery bought or taken in exchange cannot be altered, repaired or disposed of for 15 clear days, not counting Sundays and holidays, and must stay on the licensed premises in a separate location from earlier purchases, open to inspection by the City.
• Register. Each purchase must be recorded with the date and time, a full description, the price, the seller’s name, address and description, and the plate number of any delivering vehicle. From 30 September 2026, the City says the register may be kept on paper or electronically.
• Who and when. No buying from anyone who appears under 18 or is under the influence of liquor, and no licensed business between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., extended to midnight on Saturdays and the day before a holiday.
• Fees and screening. The City’s page lists a $242.82 application fee and a $545.51 licence fee ($788.33 total), with $384.88 annual renewal. Applicants need a criminal record and judicial matters check, and the landlord must sign an occupancy declaration.

If you buy used jewellery to resell as-is rather than to smelt, ask Municipal Licensing and Standards whether the second-hand shop licence is the right category instead; the by-law exempts dealing in recognized valuable antiques and works of art from the second-hand article.

Peel. Brampton’s second-hand goods requirements list precious metals and jewellery as second-hand goods, set a 30-day hold with goods available for Peel Regional Police inspection, require records for two years and $2,000,000 in liability insurance. Mississauga lists second-hand goods shop and pawn shop licences. My pawn shop and second-hand dealer guide covers those formats.

FINTRAC: when a jeweller becomes a reporting entity

Under the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, FINTRAC treats a person or entity that, in the course of business, buys or sells precious metals, precious stones or jewellery as a dealer in precious metals and stones. Obligations start once you buy or sell $10,000 or more in a single transaction, including purchases for your own inventory. Manufacturing jewellery, mining, and cutting or polishing stones are excluded activities, and a business with 90% or more of its purchases and sales tied to manufacturing is treated as a manufacturer.

Once you are covered, FINTRAC expects:

• A compliance program with a named compliance officer, written policies, a risk assessment, training and a two-year effectiveness review.
• Client identification and record keeping for covered transactions.
• Reports: large cash transactions of $10,000 or more (including multiple amounts from the same person within 24 consecutive hours), suspicious transactions, listed person or entity property, large virtual currency transactions, and suspected sanctions evasion.

None of this changes the unit you lease, but it does affect the back office. You need a private place to verify identification and secure records storage. FINTRAC can impose administrative monetary penalties for non-compliance. If you also exchange currency, see my money services business premises guide.

Quality marks and what you put on the counter

The federal Precious Metals Marking Act applies to dealers, which the Competition Bureau’s guide describes as including manufacturers, importers and anyone trading in precious metal articles at wholesale or retail. Marking for quality is not mandatory, but any quality mark or advertisement must be accurate and in the prescribed form. Gold marks such as 10K, 14K and 18K (or .417, .583 and .750) are allowed for 9 karat and above, sterling or .925 for silver, and platinum or palladium for at least 95% content. A quality mark must be accompanied by a registered or applied-for trademark, applied the same way. There are legal tolerances for gold and silver, and none for platinum or palladium. If you sell a house brand or rework pieces, these rules are yours to follow.

The lease clauses that matter for a jewellery store

1. Use clause. Retail sale of fine and fashion jewellery and watches, repairs, custom design, appraisal, and, if planned, buying gold and pre-owned jewellery. See my use clause guide.
2. Licensing condition. If you will buy from the public, a condition for the municipal licence, with the landlord signing the occupancy declaration promptly.
3. Security work as approved tenant work. Safe or vault placement, wall hardening, alarm, cameras, shutters and electric locks approved in the lease, subject to an engineer’s letter for the safe.
4. Landlord entry. Notice before entry outside business hours, except emergencies, and a protocol so landlord staff don’t trigger the alarm or enter the vault room.
5. Insurance. Landlord acknowledgement that your inventory is insured under your own policy, a waiver of subrogation where possible, and liability limits your insurer will actually write.
6. Exclusive. Jewellery and watch retail, defined by floor area, and a check that it doesn’t conflict with exclusives already granted to department stores or accessory chains.
7. Hours. Mall leases often require evening hours. Make sure staffing for safe opening and closing is realistic, and that the hours fit any gold-buying licence restriction.
8. Restoration. Agree what happens to the vault, safe anchors and reinforced walls at the end of the term. Removing a vault is expensive.

Deal-killers to check on a viewing

• Upper-floor unit with no engineer’s letter. Assume the floor can’t take your safe until an engineer says otherwise.
• Shared walls with an empty unit or an open service corridor. Insurers look closely at break-in routes through neighbours.
• No rear door or back room. Safe opening, deliveries and staff breaks happen in view of the street.
• Plaza criteria banning shutters. Some centres don’t allow exterior roll shutters at all. Ask before you price security.
• An existing jewellery exclusive. A larger tenant may already hold it.
• A municipality that doesn’t suit your buying plan. A 30-day hold in Brampton versus 15 days in Toronto changes cash flow for a gold buyer.

For other specialty retail formats, see my notes on bridal and formal wear stores.

Where I fit

I help jewellers find storefront and mall units across Toronto and the GTA, from Gerrard India Bazaar and Brampton plazas to Etobicoke and Mississauga shopping centres, and I check the licensing picture, existing exclusives and whether the floor can take your safe before you sign. I read the lease with you and push for security work approvals and entry protocols 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 — Jewellery buyers and precious metal shops licence — fees, screening, 2026 register change
• City of Toronto — Municipal Code Chapter 545, Licensing — Article XXIV hold period, register, hours
• FINTRAC — Dealers in precious metals and stones — definition, $10,000 threshold, obligations
• Competition Bureau Canada — Guide to the Precious Metals Marking Act and Regulations — quality marks, trademark, tolerances
• City of Brampton — Second-hand goods licence requirements — jewellery included, 30-day hold
• Electrical Safety Authority — Property owner and manager obligations — licensed contractor, notification of work
• City of Toronto — When do I need a building permit — wall changes as material alterations
• Ontario e-Laws — O. Reg. 191/11, Integrated Accessibility Standards — accessible service counters
• City of Toronto — Municipal Code Chapter 694, Signs — sign permit and owner consent

Related reading

• Pawn shop and second-hand dealer premises
• Money services business premises
• Clothing boutique retail space
• Bridal and formal wear store premises
• The commercial lease use clause
• The use clause in a commercial lease