Adult Entertainment · 6 min read · Last updated
Class B is the lower tier of Hamilton's two adult video store licences, for premises that stay under both of the by-law's stock limits. It carries a much smaller licence fee than Class A, and it has one more feature worth knowing: it is also the licence an adult film theatre has to hold alongside its theatre licence.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “Any premises where the number of adult videos available from the premises does not exceed 500 and where the number of adult videos available from the premises is not more than 20% of the videos available from the premises which are not adult videos, but does not include premises where the area displaying adult videos is no more than 5% or 9.3 m2 whichever is less, of the total area displaying videos on the premises.”
Who needs this licence?
Class B applies where the number of adult videos available from the premises does not exceed 500 and where adult videos are not more than 20 per cent of the videos available from the premises which are not adult videos. Both conditions have to hold. Break either one and the store is Class A instead.
There is also an exclusion at the bottom end. Premises where the area displaying adult videos is no more than 5 per cent, or 9.3 square metres, whichever is less, of the total area displaying videos on the premises are not Class B stores. A general video retailer with one small shelf is treated differently from a store that has made adult videos part of its offer.
Note that the test at the bottom is about display area, while the test at the top is about counts and proportions of stock. They measure different things, so check both.
The applicant must attend in person with government-issued photo identification, and must provide a Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check from the police service board in their city of residence dated within 36 days of the application. Third party clearances will not be accepted.
What documents do you need?
The checklist is short: the completed application form, a valid business registration, corporate profile or master business licence within one year of the application, a Zoning Verification Certificate, a Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check, and a scaled premise plan.
The business registration proves the entity behind the store is currently on the register. The police check is the personal side of the assessment, and its 36-day limit is the tightest deadline in the file.
The premise plan is drawn to scale and depicts the areas the by-law lists, including parking areas, queuing areas, walkways, smoking areas, patios, seating areas, offices, cloak rooms, kitchen facilities, bar areas, washrooms, storage areas and entrances and exits. Since Class B status can turn on display area, an accurate plan is also a record of how you intend to lay the store out.
Zoning and premises requirements
You need a Zoning Verification Certificate confirming that the zoning at the address permits the use. It is issued for the property, so it travels with the location rather than with you.
If the same category of business was previously licensed at the address within one year, a Zoning Addendum may be completed instead. That saves a step when you are taking over an existing store rather than opening a new one.
The scaled premise plan sits alongside the certificate. Zoning says whether the use is permitted at that address; the plan shows the layout, down to storage areas and every entrance and exit.
Inspections and approvals
A parking inspection is the inspection required, and it is arranged after your application has been received rather than booked by you beforehand.
It looks at the parking serving the premises, which is why the premise plan has to show parking areas, queuing areas and walkways to scale.
No fire or health inspection appears on this checklist, so the file moves through fewer hands than an adult services entertainment establishment owner application does.
How much does it cost?
The new application is a processing fee plus the licence fee plus the parking inspection fee. HST applies to the processing fee and the inspection fee but not to the licence fee.
Zoning verification or the addendum is charged separately and carries no HST, which is why the fee schedule gives a total with zoning and a total without it.
The gap between Class B and Class A is substantial: Class B sits in a far lower licence fee band. If you are close to the thresholds, that gap is a real financial reason to know exactly where your stock stands.
Renewal is charged as the licence fee. A late licence has to be reinstated and reinstatement carries its own fee with HST. The City sets the amounts in its fee schedule and confirms them when you apply.
How to apply
Confirm your class before anything else. Count the adult videos available from the premises, compare that with the non-adult stock, and check whether the small-display exclusion applies to you at all.
Complete the application form, obtain a business registration or corporate profile dated within the last year, request the Zoning Verification Certificate for the address, and have the premise plan drawn to scale.
Order the Criminal Records and Judicial Matters Check from the police service board where you live so that it is within 36 days when you file.
Attend in person with government-issued photo identification to submit it. If you also run an adult film theatre, this is the licence that has to be held alongside the theatre licence, so file them together.
Renewals and staying compliant
Renew in person with government-issued photo identification. Declarations A and B must be completed at each renewal.
Use the renewal to re-check the numbers. Stock moves, and a store that has grown its adult catalogue past either threshold during the year belongs in Class A rather than Class B.
The renewal charge listed is the licence fee. Let the licence lapse and you pay a reinstatement fee with HST to bring it back, so diarise the date well ahead.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. Which premises are excluded from the Class B adult video store definition altogether?
The definition carves out premises whose adult video display area is no more than 5 per cent or 9.3 square metres, whichever is less, of the total video display area.
2. What happens if your adult video stock passes 500 items?
Class B requires the count not to exceed 500, so going over that puts the premises in the Class A definition, which uses either test on its own.
3. Which other Hamilton licence requires its holder to also hold a Class B adult video store licence?
Schedule 1 requires an adult film theatre to hold a Class B adult video store licence as a separate licence in addition to its theatre licence.
Skip the paperwork
Tell Permits2Go about your business and it assembles the licence application for you — document checklists, e-signatures and a guided workspace for Hamilton, with more cities on the way.
This guide is general information, not legal or professional advice. Licensing requirements, by-laws and fees change and vary by municipality — always confirm the current rules with the City before you apply.