Example report: Café in Shelburne. All example reports · Open the live tool

Find your opportunity · Step 3 of 3 · Business starter plan

Business starter plan: Restaurant or café in Shelburne

How this differs: this is the full picture for your choices. For just what you legally need to open (registrations, licences, permits), see the Permits & registration checklist.

Business: Restaurant or caféCommunity: ShelburneBudget: $50,000 to $150,000Stage: Ready to start

Back to my read Compare towns Jump to forecast

General information only. This is not legal, financial or real-estate advice. Rates and fees change: confirm every figure with the municipality and agency named before you rely on it, and speak to an accountant or lawyer before you sign a lease, buy property or commit money. Free, confidential help: the Orangeville and Area Small Business Enterprise Centre (serves Dufferin County; 519-941-0440 ext. 7310, [email protected]).

Every figure comes from data WhyDufferin publishes, with its source and the date it was checked. Values we could not find in an official source say "not found"; nothing is estimated for you except where you enter your own numbers. Nothing you enter leaves this browser.

1. One-time start-up costs

Floor area you plan to lease or build (sq ft) Example value; enter yours. I am building new or added floor area (development charges apply to new floor area, not to leasing existing space)

Item	Rate	Your estimate
Development charges, commercial (local + County + education) Source: Town of Shelburne DC pamphlet (By-laws 45-2025, 46-2025), updated Jan 28, 2026, checked 2026-10-21 Fully serviced, with wastewater-plant financing charge · Without the wastewater financing charge: $51,480 per single and $139.83/m². Area-specific charges (School Road, East, West areas) extra. Industrial expansion exempt up to 50% of existing GFA.	$16.71/sq ft	$0 (leasing existing space)
Water/sewer connection (hook-up) fee	not found	not found Ask the town; it is not in our published data.
Fit-out, equipment, inventory, deposits	not found	Enter your own quotes in the forecast below.

Development charges are one-time fees paid at building permit (residential may be deferred to occupancy under Bill 17, 2025). They are indexed each year; confirm before budgeting.

Yearly running costs that follow from your site

Item	Published figure	Your estimate / yr
Lease, retail / commercial average net rent Orangeville (2026 (vacancy: May 2026 inventory)): $20.96/sq ft/yr Source: Orangeville Official Plan Review – Commercial Land Use Strategy technical memo (Parcel Economics, Aug 13 2026), Figures 2.1–2.3, based on CoStar and May 2026 inventory, checked 2026-10-21 Dufferin County (2026): $23.35/sq ft/yr Source: Orangeville Official Plan Review – Commercial Land Use Strategy technical memo (Parcel Economics, Aug 13 2026), Figures 2.1–2.3, based on CoStar and May 2026 inventory, checked 2026-10-21 WhyDufferin listings in Shelburne: 2 with a stated rent, $11.35–$16.73/sq ft/yr Source: Commercial space listings	$20.96–$23.35/sq ft/yr Net rent; taxes, maintenance and insurance (TMI) usually extra.	$35,025/yr Rate used $/sq ft/yr
Property tax, commercial class Source: Town of Shelburne By-law 18-2026, Schedule A, checked 2026-10-21	2.5227% of assessed value (2026: municipal 1.114899% + County 0.527821% + education 0.88%)	$12,614/yr Assessed value (MPAC) $ $500,000 is an example; use the assessment on the property's notice or listing. If you lease, tax is usually passed through in TMI.
Water and sewer Source: Town of Shelburne 2026 Adopted Budget, 2026 Water and Wastewater Operating, checked 2026-10-21	Yes, town / Yes, town Water $29.75 + sewer $39.52 per month (base rate) Water $1.17/m³ + sewer $1.61/m³ (Block 1, under 30 m³ bi-monthly); 2026 Block 2/3 rates not found	$1,331.64 typical 180 m³/yr residential-size bill (12 × $69.27 + 180 m³ × $2.78); a business using more water pays more

2. Approvals: who you deal with in Shelburne

Planning authority: Council decides OP and zoning changes; local OPAs and the CIP go to the County for approval Source: source
Official Plan: Consolidated Official Plan (planning period to 2036). Consolidation date and review status: not found. Source: Official Plan
Zoning: Zoning By-law 38-2007. The posted consolidation dates from May 2012; later amendments are separate (for example Z25-03 in 2025). Source: Zoning by-law
Zoning map: not found (no interactive map; use the County mapping)
Pre-consultation: Consult the Town Planner before submitting Source: source
Committee of Adjustment: Committee of Adjustment (consents and minor variances). Consult the Town Planner before applying. Source: source
Fees: User fees and charges By-law 52-2024 Source: fee by-law
Community improvement plan: CIP adopted October 3, 2022 (By-laws 50-2022 and 51-2022) for the Downtown and the Main Street and Owen Sound Street corridors. Offers grant programs and fee rebates; it was sent to the County for approval. Current program amounts: not found. Source: source
Contact: Town office · 519-925-2600 · [email protected] Source: source
Conservation authority: Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority (NVCA) (100% of the municipality) · permits: permits page · regulation map not found · 705-424-1479 · [email protected] (planning: [email protected])
Special plan areas: Niagara Escarpment Plan: none · Greenbelt: no · Oak Ridges Moraine: none

Typical path

Check the property. Look up zoning and the OP designation on the town or County map. Check whether it sits in a conservation authority regulated area (the CA's map) or the Niagara Escarpment Plan area (Mono and Mulmur).
Pre-consultation. Meet the town's planning staff. They tell you which applications and studies make the application complete, and they circulate it to the County and the CA. Some towns charge for this, and Mono requires it.
Zoning or OP change, if needed. Council decides zoning amendments. Local OP amendments go to the County for approval, except in Orangeville and Mono, which approve their own.
Minor variance or severance. The Committee of Adjustment hears minor variances, and consents in most towns. In East Garafraxa the Township handles consents.
Site plan approval. Most commercial and industrial projects need it from the town (Planning Act s.41), with an agreement and securities.
Other permits. A CA permit is needed for work in a regulated area (O. Reg. 41/24). In the NEC Development Control Area, an NEC development permit is needed before a building permit.
Building permit and charges. Get the building permit, then pay development charges (see Costs) and pass inspections before occupancy.

From the Planning page, checked 2026-10-21.

3. Local market and gaps

Our directory lists 7 food & drink businesses in Shelburne (61 county-wide).

Beyond the Gate, Jelly Bakery, Johnny's Pizza & Restaurant (Shelburne), Main St. Cafe, Reggae Flava Kitchen, The Bread Depot, The Tipsy Fox Pub & Grill

Our directory is incomplete. A low count is not proof of demand.

Gaps nearby

🗺 Pub / bar in Shelburne: 0 mapped vs ~1 expected; nearest Terra Nova Public House (~16.2 km) · score 66
🗺 Brewery / winery / distillery in Shelburne: 0 mapped vs ~0.8 expected; nearest Grand Valley Brewery (~4.3 km) · score 12

People and demand

Population 2021: 8,994 (10.7% since 2016)
Median household income: $99,000
Participation: 70.1%
Unemployment: 10%
Commute out of town: 72.4%
Renters: 19.8%

Verified fact StatCan 2021 Census.

4. Labour and drive times

Labour force in Shelburne (2021 Census)

Labour force: 4,790
Participation: 70.1%
Unemployment: 10% (May 2021, COVID period)
Commute outside Dufferin: 51.7%
Work in same municipality: 27.6%
Drive to work: 94.7%

Source: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census Profile, checked 2026-10-21

Wages for this kind of work

Sales and service: middle of occupation medians $20.5/h (range $17.6 Bakers to $60.1 Corporate sales managers)

ER3540 Kitchener–Waterloo–Barrie. Job Bank publishes wages per 5-digit occupation (NOC 2021), not per major group. Here each occupation with an hourly regional median is grouped by its NOC broad category (first digit). 'Middle of medians' is the median of those published occupation medians, a summary we computed, not an official group wage. Occupations shown only at an annual rate are left out. Source: ESDC Job Bank wage data (open data, revised 2025-11-19), checked 2026-10-21

Drive times from Shelburne

Hwy 401: 70 min (74.9 km)
Pearson airport: 80 min (80.1 km)
Downtown Toronto: 94 min (104 km)
Guelph: 75 min (71.6 km)
Barrie: 69 min (70.4 km)

Free-flow estimates (no traffic), computed 2026-10-21. Method

Internet

100% of populated areas have 50/10 Mbps for over 75% of households. Source: ISED National Broadband Data (Data_Hex_Donnees, Avail_50_10_Gradient_Dispo), files dated 2026-05-05, checked 2026-10-21

5. Your 12-month launch checklist (Ready to start)

6. Forecast calculator

Your estimate, based on numbers you entered. Only the fixed costs are prefilled from the published figures above; edit any of them. Revenue, prices, staff and other costs are yours. Saved only in this browser.

RevenueAverage price per sale ($)Sales per month, month 1Monthly sales growth (%)Cost of goods (% of revenue)

StaffStaff (not counting you)Hours per person per weekHourly wage ($)Prefilled: Sales and service middle of medians, ER3540 Kitchener–Waterloo–Barrie (Job Bank, checked 2026-10-21). Add payroll costs (CPP, EI, WSIB) to the wage if you want them included.

Fixed costs per month (prefilled, editable)RentProperty taxWater and sewerOther fixed (insurance, utilities, loan, marketing)

Start-upDevelopment charges (from plan)Fit-out, equipment, inventory, depositsYour own cash put inMonths to show

WhyDufferin is independent and not affiliated with Dufferin County.