Does my Ontario business need a separate licence to sell food or alcohol?

Yes, both food and alcohol involve their own distinct regulatory requirements in Ontario, separate from general business or municipal licensing. Any business preparing or selling food to the public — a restaurant, food truck, catering operation, or retail food premises — generally needs to meet public health requirements and register as a food premises with the local public health unit, which involves inspection and ongoing compliance around food handling, storage, and sanitation; municipalities may layer their own food-premises licensing on top of that.

Selling or serving alcohol is regulated separately at the provincial level and requires the appropriate liquor licence or permit for the specific activity involved, whether that is a licensed restaurant or bar, retail sale, or a special-occasion event, and staff serving alcohol typically need certification training as well. These are genuinely separate regimes: holding a municipal business licence or having your food premises registered does not itself authorize alcohol sales, and vice versa, so a business doing both needs to satisfy each requirement independently, usually with lead time built in before opening.