How to Start a Catering Business in Canada

The short answer

A catering business is a food premises business first and an events business second. Before the first paid event, you need the food premises approval for the province where the kitchen sits, a kitchen that approval covers, and the food safety training that province requires. The permit is provincial, so a permit from one province does not cover a kitchen in another, and the rules for a home kitchen change at every provincial border. Sort the permit, the kitchen, and the training first; the menus and the bookings come after.

Step 1: Pick the model and the menu

Catering splits into models that need different kitchens and staff:

• Drop-off. You deliver finished platters, trays, or boxed meals and leave. No serving staff, no on-site cooking, and the simplest transport routine. This is the usual starting point.
• Full-service staffed events. Your staff set up, serve, and clear at the venue. The food still comes from your approved kitchen, but you also need serving equipment, trained servers, and a plan for holding food at temperature through a long event.
• Commercial kitchen rental. You rent time in someone else's approved kitchen instead of building your own. This suits a new caterer testing demand, and it is the fallback where a home kitchen does not qualify.
• Specialty catering. Corporate lunches, weddings, and cultural or dietary-specific menus (for example, menus built around a single cuisine or dietary pattern). A narrow menu keeps ingredient buying and prep simpler than a menu that tries to cover everything.

Do not write a menu you cannot hold safely through transport and service. A dish that needs precise timing at the stove is a poor catered dish; a dish that holds well in an insulated carrier is a good one. Price from ingredient cost, kitchen time, transport, and staff hours, and put a deposit and a final headcount deadline in writing before you buy food for an event.

Step 2: Get the food premises permit for your province

There is no single Canadian catering licence. Each province runs its own food premises system, and the issuer, the form, and the timing differ. The approvals below are the ones to apply for in the provinces where caterers most often start; for the remaining provinces and territories, contact the provincial or territorial health authority before booking work, because the same pattern — an approved premises plus an inspection — applies everywhere even where this guide does not name the form.

• British Columbia. A person must not operate a food service establishment unless the person holds a permit issued under the Food Premises Regulation, and the permit is not transferable. Plans and specifications for the premises must be approved by a health official, and the permit must be posted in a conspicuous location in the establishment. Apply to the regional health authority for the area where the kitchen sits.
• Ontario. Section 16(2) of the Health Protection and Promotion Act requires every person who intends to commence to operate a food premise to give notice of that intention to the medical officer of health of the health unit where the food premise will be located. The notice must include your name, contact information, and the location of the food premise. The premise is then inspected under Ontario Regulation 493/17, and public health units inspect catering companies among other food premises.
• Alberta. Alberta Health Services issues the Food Handling Permit. An application must be completed and submitted at least 14 days before the proposed opening day, and the permit is not transferable — a new operator must apply for a new permit two weeks before taking over. Opening before approval of the facilities and issuance of the permit can lead to legal action, so do not take a booking that falls before the permit date.
• Manitoba. To prepare, sell, or distribute food to the public in Manitoba, you must register your food handling establishment and obtain a permit from your public health inspector before operating. New establishments submit the Food Handling Permit Registration Form, the menu, and a detailed floor plan to the area public health inspector, and floor plans go in for review before construction or renovation. Special events where food is prepared or served must register at least 14 days in advance.
• Quebec. No person may operate premises or a vehicle where food is prepared to be sold at retail or to furnish services for remuneration without holding a MAPAQ permit in force. The fee for a general preparation permit is $367. Quebec also requires food hygiene and sanitation training, at manager level, as part of qualifying for the permit — the training and the permit are two separate steps, and the permit is the one that authorizes operation.
• Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan Health Authority oversees food premises, and the home-kitchen rule in Step 3 is the detail most new Saskatchewan caterers miss. Contact the Authority for the permit route for a commercial catering kitchen.
• Nova Scotia. Any caterer involved in commercial food preparation must hold a Food Establishment Permit under the Health Protection Act and Food Safety Regulations, issued by Nova Scotia Environment, Environmental Health and Food Safety Division. Permits are issued for a specific establishment, are not transferable from one owner or location to another, and must be renewed annually.
• New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the territories. Each runs its own food premises system under its public health legislation. Contact the provincial or territorial health authority for the permit form before you sign a venue contract — do not assume another province's permit or process carries over.

Apply early. Alberta's 14-day lead time and Manitoba's 14-day event registration are minimums, not targets: plans, inspections, and corrections all take time, and a venue date does not move because a permit is late.

Step 3: Set up an approved kitchen

The kitchen is the part of the business the health authority inspects, so it has to be right before the first event:

1. Use an approved kitchen only. Food must come from a kitchen the health authority has approved, whether that is your own commercial kitchen, a rented commercial kitchen, or a qualifying home kitchen. Cooking in an unapproved kitchen and delivering the result is not a workaround; it is the exact gap inspections are designed to catch.
2. Home kitchens are limited. In Ontario, food prepared in a private home requires a kitchen entirely independent from the home kitchen, closed off with floor-to-ceiling walls and doors, and inspected under Ontario Regulation 493/17. In Saskatchewan, a home-based catering kitchen is permitted, but only low-risk foods may be prepared in a residential kitchen; high-risk food must be prepared in a commercial kitchen. In Saskatoon, the zoning bylaw also prohibits retail sales, including customer pickup, at a home-based business — food prepared in a home-based business may only be delivered to the customer. Check both the health rule and the zoning rule for your city.
3. Plan the layout before building. Health authorities review floor plans and equipment lists before construction or renovation. In Ontario, plans should show room dimensions, equipment locations, sink and handwash sink locations, washroom locations, ventilation, grease traps, and materials for floors, walls, and ceilings. Getting the plan reviewed before building is cheaper than rebuilding after an inspection fails.
4. Hold food at temperature through transport. Nova Scotia's catering guidance gives the numbers to plan around: refrigerate high-risk foods at 4°C until ready for preparation or service, and keep hot food above 60°C until served. Hot foods should be cooked the same day as the event and served hot. Carry a probe thermometer, use insulated carriers, and keep the time between kitchen and service as short as the menu allows.

Step 4: Register the business and sort tax

The business paperwork follows the same shape as any service business:

1. Choose a structure. Most solo caterers start as a sole proprietorship and incorporate later if liability or income makes it worthwhile.
2. Register the business name with your province if you trade under a name other than your own. In Ontario the fee is $60 and the registration is valid for 5 years. Other provinces set their own fees, so check the provincial registry rather than assuming Ontario's figure travels.
3. Get a Canada Revenue Agency business number. It is free, and you need it for tax accounts.
4. Register for GST/HST once your taxable supplies pass $30,000 in a single calendar quarter or over four consecutive calendar quarters. Catering services are taxable supplies, so a busy first year will cross that line. Below it you are a small supplier and registration is optional.
5. Check the municipal business licence. Cities set their own rules, and a home-based kitchen address does not remove the requirement where one applies. Check zoning too: a city may allow a home-based catering kitchen for delivery only, as Saskatoon does, while barring customer pickup at the home.

Step 5: Staff, train, and run the first events

Food safety training is a permit condition in some provinces and a practical necessity in all of them:

• British Columbia. Every operator of a food service establishment must hold a FOODSAFE certificate or its equivalent, and while the operator is absent, at least one employee present must hold one.
• Quebec. Food hygiene and sanitation training at manager level is required before the permit issues.
• Alberta. With six or more food handlers on site, at least one certified person in a management or supervisory role must be present; with fewer handlers, the person in care and control of the establishment must hold certification.
• Nova Scotia. At least one person per shift must have taken a recognized food safety training course, and the training must be renewed every five years.
• Everywhere else. Confirm the training rule with the issuing authority, and train every person who handles food whether or not the province names a minimum — the certificate is cheap compared with a failed inspection or a sick guest.

For the events themselves, write down the routine and follow it every time: final headcount deadline, ingredient buying from approved sources, same-day cooking for hot food, temperature checks at dispatch and at service, labelled allergen information for each dish, and a cleanup plan that leaves the venue as found. Keep a record of each event — date, venue, menu, headcount, and any complaint — because that record is what answers questions if a guest reports illness later.

Related guides: food truck permits and licences in Canada (the mobile food premise rules, for comparison), food cart permits in Canada (the smaller mobile format), how to get a business number in Canada (the free CRA registration), do you need a GST number as a sole proprietor in Canada (the $30,000 threshold), how to start a cleaning business in Canada (another licensed local service business), and how to start an event planning business in Canada (the planning and coordination side of events, as distinct from the food premises side).

Sources

• BC Laws, Food Premises Regulation (B.C. Reg. 210/99) — the permit to operate a food service establishment, plans approved before construction, non-transferable, posted in a conspicuous location.
• Ontario.ca, O. Reg. 493/17: Food Premises — notice of intention to operate to the medical officer of health, and the inspection regime under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
• Alberta Health Services, Starting a Food Business in Edmonton and Surrounding Areas — Food Handling Permit application at least 14 days before opening, non-transferable, opening before approval risks legal action.
• Government of Manitoba, Food Handling Establishment Inspections and Health Permits — register the establishment and obtain a permit before operating, floor plans reviewed before construction, special events registered at least 14 days in advance.
• Gouvernement du Québec, Permis pour préparation d'aliments, restauration ou vente au détail — general preparation permit $367, permit in hand before starting, valid one year, manager-level food establishment training required.
• Government of Saskatchewan, Food Safety — home food processors may prepare only low-risk foods in a home kitchen; restaurant-type facilities including caterers are licensed under the Food Safety Regulations.
• Nova Scotia Environment, Catering Foods fact sheet — commercial caterers must hold a Food Establishment Permit; refrigerate high-risk foods at 4°C, keep hot food above 60°C, cook hot foods the same day.
• Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia, Regulation & Permits — at least one person per shift food-safety trained, training renewed every five years; off-site catering needs a Catering Extension permit to serve alcohol.
• Ontario.ca, Ontario Business Registry: All Services — business name registration $60 for a sole proprietorship, valid 5 years.
• Canada Revenue Agency, Businesses: Go online to register for a business number or CRA program account — business number registration through Business Registration Online.
• Canada Revenue Agency, When to register for and start charging the GST/HST — small supplier means $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and over the last four consecutive calendar quarters.
• City of Saskatoon, Home-Based Business brochure — no on-site sale of products, goods or merchandise at a home-based business.
• Government of British Columbia, Restaurant Start-up Checklist — FOODSAFE certification required for food service operators.
• Canadian Institute of Food Safety, How to Get a Food Handling Certificate in Alberta — Food Regulation s.31: six or more food handlers requires a certified manager or supervisor present; five or fewer requires a certified person in care and control.