Entertainment & Amusement · 6 min read · Last updated
Hamilton's amusement schedule names a dozen specific businesses and then adds a catch-all for everything else. The wording is old, referring to exhibitions for hire or gain and exhibitions of waxworks, but the City's own examples are modern: laser tag, paintball, and anything not covered by another Places of Amusement class.
The City of Hamilton lists this under its “Establishments” category: “OTHER. Exhibition for hire or gain, exhibition of waxworks, etc (Laser Tag, Paintball, anything not covered by other places of Amusement Licence).”
Who needs this licence?
This class exists so that nothing falls through the gaps. The guide describes it as exhibition for hire or gain, exhibition of waxworks and similar, and then gives working examples: laser tag, paintball, and anything not covered by the other Places of Amusement classes.
That last phrase is the operative one. Before concluding you belong here, check the named classes first, because several have their own thresholds and their own checklists. Four or more amusement machines is the arcade class. One billiard table is the billiards class. Rides, carnivals, circuses, bowling alleys, rinks, bingo parlours, racetracks and skate parks are each named separately. If your venue matches one of those, apply under it.
If it matches none of them but you are charging the public for amusement on premises, this is where you land. Escape rooms, axe throwing, indoor obstacle attractions, trampoline centres and similar concepts are the modern shape of what this wording was written to catch.
Because the class is defined by exclusion, it is worth describing your concept to Licensing & By-law Services before applying. A short conversation confirms which class you belong in, and getting that wrong means the wrong inspections and the wrong fees.
What documents do you need?
The checklist is short and general, which suits a class that has to cover businesses nobody has thought of yet: a business registration, corporate profile or master business licence dated within one year of application, 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. All of it attaches to the City's business licence application.
The generality cuts both ways. Nothing on this list is specific to your activity, so the burden falls on you to describe the operation clearly. Two venues could file identical paperwork and be doing entirely different things inside, and it is your description that tells the reviewer which one you are.
Be especially clear where your activity involves projectiles, heights, vehicles or anything else that changes the risk profile. The City has to route your file to the right inspectors, and it can only do that from what you tell it.
Zoning and premises requirements
A Zoning Verification Certificate confirms that your use is permitted at the address. This is the step where novel concepts most often run into trouble, because zoning categories were written before the business existed.
The fix is precision. When you ask for the certificate, describe what happens on site in concrete terms: how many people, what they do, how long they stay, whether there is any outdoor component. Zoning staff are matching your activity to a permitted use category, and they can only do that from a real description.
Where the same category of business was licensed at the address in the past year, a zoning addendum may be accepted in place of a full certificate. On City-owned properties the zoning check is handled internally.
Parking flows from zoning and is separately inspected. Group-booking businesses such as laser tag and paintball arrive in vans and party groups, and that pattern is what the parking assessment has to accommodate.
Inspections and approvals
The Licensing team circulates the inspection requests once your application is received.
The fire inspection is the significant one, and for this class it is genuinely unpredictable in scope, because the buildings are unpredictable. Laser tag arenas are dark mazes with restricted sightlines. Paintball fields build structures out of whatever is at hand. Escape rooms deliberately confine people in small rooms with locked-looking doors. All of those raise the same core questions about exits, exit visibility, occupant load and emergency lighting, and all of them can require design changes.
The parking inspection assesses the parking supply against the use.
The Certificate of Compliance inspection reviews the premises against compliance requirements and repeats over time, described as bi-annual where the location is permanent.
Design for the fire inspection at the concept stage rather than after the build. Attractions in this class are often built as immersive environments, and immersive environments and clear egress pull in opposite directions.
How much does it cost?
The application carries a processing fee, the annual licence fee, a fire inspection fee and a parking inspection fee. Zoning verification or the addendum is a separate line when it applies.
HST applies to the processing fee and to both inspection fees. The licence fee itself 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 the amounts in the City's fee schedule and Licensing & By-law Services confirms them during your application. Because this class is defined by exclusion, confirm your class before you pay, since a different class can carry a different set of inspection fees.
How to apply
Confirm the class first. Describe the business to Licensing & By-law Services and get agreement that you belong in the other category rather than one of the named ones.
Request the Zoning Verification Certificate with a concrete description of the activity, and treat the answer as the go or no-go on the address.
Arrange liability insurance that names your actual activity, and pull a business registration dated within the past year.
Submit the City's business licence application with the checklist and the Certificate of Compliance application form, and pay the applicable fees.
Licensing circulates the fire and parking inspection requests, with the compliance inspection to follow. If you are building an immersive space, bring the fire inspector's concerns into the design rather than testing them after the walls are up.
Renewals and staying compliant
The licence renews annually and Declaration B has to be completed as part of the renewal.
The inspection cycles are staggered: the Certificate of Compliance inspection every two years and the fire inspection every three. In a year when neither is due, the renewal is the licence fee alone.
This class changes faster than most. Venues in the other category tend to rebuild their attractions, add new game rooms or reconfigure course layouts between seasons. Every one of those changes affects egress, so flag them at renewal instead of waiting for the inspection cycle to catch up with them.
If the activity changes substantially, ask whether you are still in the same class at all. Adding rides or amusement machines can move you into a named class with its own requirements.
A lapsed licence has to be reinstated, which carries a reinstatement fee plus HST.
Quick quiz: test what you learned
Three questions, all answered in this guide. Click an answer to check it.
1. Which businesses does the City give as examples of the other Places of Amusement class?
The guide describes this class as exhibition for hire or gain and exhibition of waxworks, giving laser tag and paintball as examples of anything not covered by another class.
2. You are opening a venue with five arcade cabinets and an escape room. Which class applies?
The other class covers only what is not covered elsewhere, and four or more amusement machines meets the named arcade threshold.
3. Why is the fire inspection especially demanding for laser tag and escape room venues?
The fire inspection assesses exits, exit visibility and occupant load, which are exactly the things immersive attraction design tends to compromise.
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.