Entertainment & Amusement · 6 min read · Last updated
This is the licence people most often assume they do not need. In Hamilton a single billiard or bagatelle table can require it, coin-operated tables are explicitly included, and the only way out is a narrow exemption written for restaurants and public halls. Read the exemption carefully before you rely on it.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “BILLIARDS/BAGATELLE TABLES - One (1) or more tables including coin operated tables. Section 17 2 (2) of By-law 07-170 permits up to two (2) tables without a licence, only if incidental to the principal business of a Restaurant or Public Hall.”
Who needs this licence?
The trigger is one table. The class covers premises with one or more billiard or bagatelle tables, and the by-law states plainly that coin-operated tables are included. There is no free allowance for a single table in a general business.
The one exemption is narrow. Section 17 2 (2) of By-law 07-170 permits up to two tables without a licence, but only where they are incidental to the principal business of a restaurant or a public hall. Three conditions have to hold at once: no more than two tables, your principal business is a restaurant or public hall, and the tables are genuinely incidental to it.
Fail any one of those and the exemption is gone. A retail shop with one table does not qualify because it is not a restaurant or public hall. A restaurant with three tables does not qualify on count. A venue where the tables have become the draw is no longer using them incidentally, whatever the menu says.
It is also worth knowing what this licence is not. Arcade cabinets are a different class with a four-machine threshold, and a coin-operated billiard table is expressly not an amusement machine. A venue with both needs to look at both classes.
What documents do you need?
The checklist here is short, which reflects a business the City already understands well: a completed business licence application form, a business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within one year, a Zoning Verification Certificate, proof of liability insurance meeting the checklist minimum in accordance with the Amusement Devices Act, and a completed Certificate of Compliance application form.
The one-year date on the registration is not a formality. It is how the City confirms the entity applying is the entity currently in good standing, and stale printouts are returned.
Because there is no health certificate and no provincial equipment permit in this class, the file usually moves as fast as the inspections allow. That makes the inspection stage, not the paperwork stage, the thing to plan around.
Zoning and premises requirements
The Zoning Verification Certificate confirms that a billiard hall use is permitted where you want to operate. Zoning attaches to the address, so a table added to an existing business is a change worth verifying rather than assuming.
This matters most for the restaurant that outgrows the two-table exemption. Adding a third table converts an incidental amenity into a licensed billiards use, and the zoning question is asked about the new use.
Where the same category of business was licensed at the address within the past year, a zoning addendum may be accepted in place of a full certificate. On City-owned properties the zoning check is done internally.
Parking sits behind zoning, and there is a parking inspection on this licence, so a room with more tables than parking will surface the issue early.
Inspections and approvals
Three inspections attach to this class, and the Licensing team circulates the requests after your application is received.
The fire inspection is the one that shapes a billiard room. Tables are fixed obstacles in an open floor plan, and cue play needs clearance, so the layout that plays best is not always the layout that keeps exit routes and aisle widths compliant. Set your table spacing with the fire inspection in mind rather than reworking it afterwards.
The parking inspection assesses whether the site provides the parking the use requires.
The Certificate of Compliance inspection checks the premises against compliance requirements and returns on a cycle, described as bi-annual where the location is permanent.
How much does it cost?
Expect four separate charges on a new application: a processing fee, the annual licence fee, a fire inspection fee and a parking inspection fee. Zoning verification or the addendum is its own line when it applies, and the Certificate of Compliance is quoted from the City's separate compliance fee structure rather than being folded into the licence. HST applies to the processing fee and both inspection fees; the licence fee is not taxed. Renewal years differ from each other because the fire and compliance inspections run on different cycles, so a single renewal quote will not describe every year. Council sets all amounts in the City's fee schedule and Licensing & By-law Services confirms your total when you apply.
How to apply
First, settle whether you actually need the licence. Count every table including coin-operated ones, and test the exemption honestly against all three of its conditions.
Get zoning confirmed for the address, especially if the tables are new to an existing business.
Assemble the short checklist: application form, business registration dated within the year, zoning certificate, insurance certificate and the Certificate of Compliance application form.
Submit and pay the applicable fees. Licensing circulates the fire and parking inspection requests, then the compliance inspection follows. If you are still fitting out the room, have the tables in their final positions before the fire inspection, because spacing is exactly what it looks at.
Renewals and staying compliant
The licence renews annually and Declaration B has to be completed each time.
Not every renewal costs the same. The Certificate of Compliance inspection is on a two-year cycle and the fire inspection on a three-year cycle, so some renewal years are the licence fee alone and others carry an inspection fee as well.
If your table count changes between renewals, say so. Dropping to two tables does not automatically end the licence unless you also meet the restaurant or public hall condition, and adding tables changes what the fire inspection is assessing.
Missing the renewal date means reinstating the licence instead of renewing it, and reinstatement carries its own fee plus HST.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. A retail shop installs two billiard tables for customers. Does the two-table exemption apply?
Section 17 2 (2) permits up to two tables without a licence only if they are incidental to the principal business of a restaurant or public hall.
2. Do coin-operated billiard tables count toward the table total for this licence?
The class is defined as one or more tables including coin operated tables, and elsewhere the by-law confirms a coin-operated billiard table is not an amusement machine.
3. Which inspection most directly affects how you lay out a billiard room?
The fire inspection is one of the required inspections for this class and it assesses exits and circulation, which is exactly what table spacing determines.
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.