Businesses for sale in Montreal
- Active listings
- 144 in Montreal right now
- Top industries
- Food & beverage 36·Retail 34·Business services 26
- Population
- 4,291,732Statistics Canada, 2021 Census · Montreal census metropolitan area
Available in Montreal
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Buying a business in Montreal: what is different here
Licensing, inspection and land-use rules are municipal, so they change at the city limits — these are the ones that attach to a business in Montreal, with the authority’s own page for each.
The municipal business licence
Montreal's borough permit counter (occupancy permit issued under each borough's urban planning by-law) issues a general business licence that most businesses operating in Montreal need. It is issued to the operator, not to the premises, so it does not come with the business — a buyer applies in their own name, and the application is worth starting before closing rather than after. Beyond it the city licenses by category — “Occupancy permit for a bar or restaurant (must be obtained before a liquor permit will be issued)”, “Occupancy permit for a short-term rental (tourist accommodation) establishment”, “Commercial sign permit” and 1 more — so confirm whether the business you are buying also carries one of those, and whether it is current.
Montreal business licensing →If it serves food, the inspection history is public
Ville de Montréal — Inspection des aliments (MAPAQ delegated agent) inspects food premises in Montreal and publishes the results as Inspections des aliments et contrevenants. For a restaurant, café or food retailer that is diligence you can do before making an offer and without the seller's cooperation — a run of repeat infractions is both a remediation cost and, in a business whose customers can read the same record, a revenue problem.
Inspections des aliments et contrevenants →Confirming the use is actually permitted
A business operating today is not proof the use is legally permitted — non-conforming uses, expired variances and conditions attached to a previous owner all survive a sale quietly. In Montreal that is confirmed before closing rather than after, through the office linked below.
Ville de Montréal — Urban Planning (zoning determined per borough) →General information, not legal or tax advice — rules change and the authorities above are the current source. Deavo is a listings platform, not a brokerage.