Entertainment & Amusement · 7 min read · Last updated
A carnival is licensed as a temporary occupation of somebody else's land. That shapes the whole checklist: alongside the usual business paperwork, Hamilton wants the owner's permission, the dates you will be there, a plan showing where every ride will stand, and current provincial permits for the equipment you are bringing.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “CARNIVAL. By-law 07-170, Schedule 17. Please see By-law for DEFINITION, REQUIREMENTS and RESTRICTIONS.”
Who needs this licence?
This licence is for carnival operators bringing a midway to a Hamilton site under Schedule 17 of By-law 07-170. It is issued to the operator running the attractions, not to the community organisation, church or shopping centre hosting the event.
That distinction matters at the booking stage. Hosts frequently assume the carnival company holds everything needed, and carnival companies sometimes assume the host has arranged municipal approvals. Decide explicitly who is applying, and do it early enough that the answer can still change your dates.
If food is being sold on the midway, whether by you or by concessionaires you bring, expect that to be dealt with separately from this licence.
Note the class boundary too. A carnival is a midway of rides and attractions. A circus is its own class with its own checklist, and standalone amusement rides are a third. The three overlap in equipment but not in paperwork.
What documents do you need?
Four items exist on this checklist purely because a carnival is temporary and mobile.
- Permission of the property owner, or proof that you own the land, showing you have the right to occupy the site
- The dates of the event, which the checklist attaches directly to that permission
- A location plan of the rides, showing what will stand where once you are set up
- Current provincial permits: one issued under the Amusement Devices Act for the business operation, and one issued by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority for each individual amusement device
Around those sit the standard items every Places of Amusement class needs: the completed licence application form, a business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within one year, a Zoning Verification Certificate, and proof of liability insurance at the checklist's minimum in accordance with the Amusement Devices Act.
A completed Certificate of Compliance application form finishes the package.
The TSSA permits deserve one more word. They are per device. A midway of a dozen rides means a dozen current permits, plus the separate operation-level permit. If your equipment list changes between the application and the opening, the permit file has to change with it.
Zoning and premises requirements
Zoning applies to the ground you are occupying, not to your company. A Zoning Verification Certificate confirms that a carnival is a permitted use at the specific site for the specific dates you have booked.
A great many carnivals set up on City-owned property, and the checklist reflects that: the zoning verification is internal for City-owned properties. Establish who owns the site before you order anything, because it changes what you have to buy.
For private sites such as mall parking lots or private fields, the certificate is on you, and the property owner's permission letter is separate from it. Owner consent is not zoning approval, and zoning approval is not owner consent. You need both.
Where the same category of business was licensed at the address within the past year, a zoning addendum may be accepted instead of a full certificate. That is worth asking about for sites that host a carnival annually.
Inspections and approvals
Once the application is in, the Licensing team circulates the inspection requests. Two are listed for a carnival, plus compliance.
The health inspection is the distinguishing one. Carnivals bring food concessions, hand-washing arrangements that are improvised by nature, and water and waste connections that were not designed for the site. That is what the inspection is looking at.
The parking inspection assesses vehicle access and parking for a crowd that arrives all at once, on a site where your own equipment is occupying part of the lot. Your ride location plan is the reference document.
The Certificate of Compliance inspection applies, described in the guide as bi-annual where the location is permanent, which for a travelling carnival is the exception rather than the rule.
Notice there is no fire inspection in the carnival checklist, unlike the indoor assembly classes in the same schedule. That is not an invitation to be casual about fire safety on a midway with generators and fuel, but it does tell you which department will show up.
How much does it cost?
A carnival application carries a processing fee, the annual licence fee, a health inspection fee and a parking inspection fee. Zoning verification or the addendum is billed as its own line when it applies.
HST is added to the processing fee and to both inspection fees. The licence fee is not taxed.
The Certificate of Compliance is quoted from the City's separate compliance fee structure rather than being included in the licence total.
Council sets all of these in the City's fee schedule and Licensing & By-law Services confirms your total during the application. For an operator running several Hamilton dates in a season, ask specifically how the licence applies across your bookings rather than assuming one payment covers everything.
How to apply
Work backwards from the opening day. The inspections happen after your application is received and they depend on other people's schedules, so a file submitted the week before load-in is a file at risk.
Lock the site first: owner permission in writing, dates confirmed, and zoning settled or confirmed as internal if the land is City-owned.
Assemble the equipment file next. Every ride needs a current TSSA permit and the operation needs its Amusement Devices Act permit. Match the permits against the rides you are actually bringing to Hamilton.
Draw the location plan, then submit the completed application with the whole checklist and the Certificate of Compliance application form, and pay the applicable fees.
Licensing circulates the health and parking inspection requests. Have the midway in the position shown on your plan before the inspectors arrive, because a site that does not match its plan gets re-inspected.
Renewals and staying compliant
The renewal package for this class is the lightest in the schedule: Declaration B completed, and the licence fee paid.
There is no fire inspection cycle to track here. The Certificate of Compliance inspection comes around every two years where it applies, quoted from the City's compliance fee structure, and in years when it does not fall due the renewal is the licence fee alone.
The parts that expire fastest are not municipal. TSSA device permits, your Amusement Devices Act operating permit and your insurance certificate all run on their own dates, and a renewed City licence does nothing for an expired ride permit.
If your next Hamilton engagement is at a different site or on different dates, that is new site information, not a renewal detail. Property owner permission, dates and a location plan are tied to a specific booking.
Letting the licence lapse means reinstatement, which 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. Which inspection appears on the carnival checklist but not on the indoor Places of Amusement classes such as bowling alleys?
Carnivals list health and parking inspections; the fire inspection appears in the indoor assembly classes instead.
2. A community group books a carnival company for a weekend fundraiser on a private parking lot. Who needs the carnival licence?
The licence is issued to the business operating the carnival, which is also why the checklist asks that operator for property owner permission and event dates.
3. Your midway has ten rides. How many TSSA permits does the checklist expect?
The checklist requires a current TSSA permit for each amusement device in addition to the Amusement Devices Act permit for the business operation.
Skip the paperwork
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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.