What this covers. These are City of Toronto
municipal business licences — the businesses the City regulates, such as
restaurants, retail food, cafés, personal services, trades and parking.
Businesses that need no municipal licence (software companies, consultants,
online stores) do not appear here. Source:
City of Toronto Open Data.
Search licences
| Business | Category | Ward | Issued | Address | Status |
|---|
What is opening in Toronto
By ward
Most common categories
Monthly openings
Choosing a location
The ward list is ordered busiest first. A ward sitting low in that list for the category you care about is the one with the least recent competition — filter to a single category and a single ward, then read the count next to "matches" to see how thin the market is there.
Licence counts are a proxy for activity, not demand. A neighbourhood can have few new licences and plenty of trade. Check foot traffic, rent and demographics before committing to anything.
FAQ
- Does this show every new business in Toronto?
- No. It shows every business licence and permit issued by the City of Toronto's Municipal Licensing and Standards division in the last 180 days. That covers businesses the City regulates, such as restaurants, retail food, cafés, personal services, trades and parking. It does not cover businesses that need no municipal licence, such as software companies, consultants or online stores.
- Where does the data come from?
- The City of Toronto Open Data portal, dataset Municipal Licensing and Standards - Business Licences and Permits. The City refreshes the dataset regularly and this page rebuilds from it weekly.
- How current is the data?
- The page keeps a rolling 180-day window and rebuilds weekly. The generation date is shown at the top of the page, and the newest licence date in the window is shown next to it.
- What is a ward?
- A ward is one of Toronto's 25 electoral districts, plus the City of Toronto as a whole. Each business licence is recorded against the ward of its licensed address, so filtering by ward shows which neighbourhoods are picking up new businesses.
- Can I use this to research a neighbourhood for a new business?
- Yes. The ward and category breakdowns show where comparable businesses have recently opened, and which wards have the fewest. A ward with many restaurants and no cafes is telling you something. Treat it as one signal among several, since the data excludes businesses that need no municipal licence.