How to Start a Home Bakery Business in Canada
Start a home bakery business in Canada: low-risk foods, health-unit approval, labelling, zoning and registration, plus pricing your first batches.
How to Start a Food Manufacturing Business in Canada
How to start a food manufacturing business in Canada: the CFIA Safe Food for Canadians licence, labelling rules, and provincial permits.
Applies in: CA
The short answer
A food manufacturing business in Canada is licensed twice: the province or municipality approves the plant itself, and the federal government licenses the business if its food crosses a provincial border, leaves the country, or is imported. The federal licence is the Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, applied for through My CFIA. On top of the licences sits the label: bilingual, with a Nutrition Facts table, an ingredient list, and allergen declarations. Get the premises, the food safety plan, and the label designed before the first production run — retrofitting any of them is expensive.
Step 1: Decide what you make and where it will be sold
The market decides the licences. Food sold only inside one province is generally a provincial matter: the food premises permit and the province's food safety rules. Food manufactured, processed, packaged, or labelled for interprovincial trade or export needs an SFC licence, and importing food or ingredients needs one too. The CFIA's licensing page lists the food business activities that require a licence under the SFCR, and its interactive tool walks you through your own case — use it before you spend money on a plant, because the answer changes the application.
The product also decides the risk tier. Meat, fish, dairy, and fresh or processed fruits and vegetables carry the heaviest requirements, including a written preventive control plan and, for meat and slaughter, inspection services and a work shift agreement with the CFIA. Lower-risk manufactured foods — baked goods, sauces, snacks — have lighter requirements, but the labelling and traceability rules still apply.
Step 2: Set up the premises and the food safety system
Find the plant before you apply for anything. The premises needs provincial or municipal food premises approval, and the approval looks at the building layout, water, drainage, waste, pest control, and the flow of raw materials to finished product. A home kitchen rarely qualifies for a manufacturing operation — plan for a commercial space, a shared commercial kitchen, or a co-packer.
Write the preventive control plan (PCP) while the plant is being fitted out, not after. The PCP documents the hazards in your process and the controls that manage them — supplier approval, allergen controls, sanitation, traceability, and recall procedures. The CFIA's PCP guidance walks through the structure. You also need traceability records that let you trace a finished product back to its ingredients and forward to its buyers, and a recall procedure you can actually run.
Step 3: Create a My CFIA account and business profile
The SFC licence lives in My CFIA. Create an account, then a business (party) profile for the company, supported by proof of authority to act on behalf of the business. The licence application must be requested on behalf of the business, with the right party profile selected. The CFIA notes that a profile showing as "Active" does not by itself mean it has been validated for licence applications — allow time for validation before you plan the application date.
Step 4: Apply for the Safe Food for Canadians licence
The CFIA sets out five steps: create the My CFIA account, determine your licence structure, complete the application, verify the information, and receive the licence. In the application you name the licensable activities (for example, preparing food for interprovincial trade or for export), the food commodity and sub-commodity categories, and the establishments where the work happens. You attest that you meet the SFCR requirements, including preventive controls and a written PCP where required, and you complete the Food Safety Supplemental Information (FSSI) questionnaire for each establishment — the CFIA now requires the FSSI before a licence can be issued, renewed, or amended.
Then the CFIA reviews. It conducts a pre-issuance review and may contact you for an interview or an inspection before the licence issues, using a risk-based approach to prioritize inspections. Processing can take weeks: the CFIA's stated service standard can run to 70 business days, and recent experience reported by food regulatory consultants puts many licences at roughly six to eight weeks. Do not promise customers a ship date that depends on the licence arriving sooner.
The licence is valid for two years. Renewal opens 120 days before expiry and must be processed before the licence expires. CFIA fees are adjusted annually on March 31 based on the Consumer Price Index — check the CFIA's Fees Notice for the current licence fee before you apply.
Step 5: Get the labels right, then sell
Design the label with the regulations open, not from a competitor's package. Most prepackaged foods need a Nutrition Facts table in the standardized Canadian format showing calories and the core nutrients per serving, an ingredient list in descending order by weight, and allergen, gluten, and sulphite declarations — all in English and French. Health Canada defines the Nutrition Facts table formats, daily values, and the front-of-package "high in" symbol, which has applied since January 1, 2026 to most prepackaged foods high in saturated fat, sugars, or sodium. Nutrition and health claims are optional, but if you use one it must meet the defined thresholds and conditions — check Health Canada's list of permitted claims before you print "low in fat" or "source of fibre" on a package.
Once the licence, the premises approval, and the labels are in place, the commercial work starts: buyers, distributors, brokers, and retailers each have their own listing requirements, and a food service or retail buyer will ask for the SFC licence number and the PCP before they list you.
Figures not stated in this guide
The SFC licence application fee is not stated in this guide: the CFIA's own page refers applicants to its Fees Notice and notes fees are adjusted annually on March 31, and the dollar figure circulating in consultant write-ups was not verified on the CFIA's Fees Notice — check the Fees Notice for the current amount. No plant build-out, equipment, or co-packer cost figure is stated: costs vary too widely by product and scale. The front-of-package "high in" thresholds were not re-verified on a Health Canada page, so no threshold percentage is stated — confirm them in Health Canada's front-of-package guidance before printing labels.
Related guides
- How to start a food truck in Vancouver — the mobile-food counterpart: health permits, municipal vending rules, and the same food safety training, in a truck instead of a plant.
- Food truck permits and licences in Canada — the national map of food permits, and how the federal, provincial, and municipal layers fit together.
- How to start a restaurant business in Canada — if the plant adds a restaurant or tasting kitchen, the food premises rules that layer adds.
- How to start selling at a farmers' market in Canada — the smallest first sales channel for a new food maker, and the food rules that apply at a market stall.
- How to get a business number in Canada — the CRA business number behind the food business's tax accounts.
- How to register for GST/HST in Canada — most food sold at retail is zero-rated for GST/HST, but prepared food and the $30,000 threshold still matter.
Starting a food manufacturing business in Canada, in five steps
- Decide what you make and where it will be soldWhether the food stays inside your province or crosses provincial borders or the border itself decides which licences you need — interprovincial trade and export trigger the federal licence.
- Set up the premises and the food safety systemGet the provincial or municipal food premises approval for the plant, then write and implement a preventive control plan covering the hazards in your process.
- Create a My CFIA account and business profileThe Safe Food for Canadians licence is requested through My CFIA, on behalf of the business, with a validated company profile.
- Apply for the Safe Food for Canadians licencePick the licensable activities and food commodity categories for your products, attest to the SFCR requirements, and complete the Food Safety Supplemental Information questionnaire for each establishment.
- Get the labels right, then sellEvery prepackaged product needs a bilingual Nutrition Facts table, an ingredient list in descending order by weight, and allergen declarations — design the label before the first production run.
Questions people ask
Do I need a federal licence to manufacture food in Canada?
It depends on where the food goes. Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, you need a Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence if you manufacture, process, treat, preserve, grade, package, or label food for interprovincial trade or export, or if you import food. If you make food and sell it only inside your own province, the federal licence may not be required — but your province or municipality still licenses the food premises. Use the CFIA's licensing interactive tool to check your own case before you decide you do not need one.
How do I get a Safe Food for Canadians licence?
There are five steps. First, create an account and business profile in My CFIA. Second, decide your licence structure — the regulations do not limit how many licences you can hold, and one licence per establishment is the recommended structure. Third, complete the application, naming the licensable activities, the food commodity categories, and the establishments, and attesting that you meet the SFCR requirements including preventive controls. Fourth, the CFIA does a pre-issuance review and may contact you for an interview or an inspection. Fifth, you receive the licence by email and in your My CFIA account. A licence expires two years after it is issued or renewed.
What is a preventive control plan, and do I need one?
A preventive control plan (PCP) is a written plan showing how you control food safety hazards in your operation. You must prepare, keep, maintain, and implement a PCP to cover each licence you hold, and the CFIA's PCP guidance can help you write it. A written PCP is mandatory for higher-risk commodities such as meat, fish, dairy, and fresh or processed fruits and vegetables. For lower-risk manufactured foods, a written PCP may not be required if your annual food sales are below $100,000 — confirm your own position against the CFIA's guidance before you apply.
What must go on a Canadian food label?
Most prepackaged foods need a Nutrition Facts table in the standardized Canadian format, an ingredient list in descending order by weight in both English and French, and clear declarations of priority allergens, gluten sources, and added sulphites. All mandatory information must appear in both official languages. Health Canada sets the Nutrition Facts table format and daily values, and the CFIA enforces the labelling rules. Since January 1, 2026, most prepackaged foods high in saturated fat, sugars, or sodium must also carry a front-of-package 'high in' symbol — confirm the current thresholds and artwork in Health Canada's front-of-package guidance before you print labels.
How long does an SFC licence last, and how do I renew it?
Two years from the date it is issued or renewed. The renewal option becomes available in your My CFIA account 120 days before the expiry date, and the renewal must be processed by the CFIA before the licence expires. If the licence expires, the number is no longer valid and cannot be renewed — you must apply for a new licence. Licence amendments, such as adding a food commodity category, are free and are requested through My CFIA. An SFC licence is not transferable: if the business is sold or its legal structure changes so a different person holds it, the new person needs a new licence.
What provincial permits does a food plant need?
Every province licenses food premises through its health authority or municipality — the plant needs approval before it operates, and the approval covers the building, water supply, waste handling, and food handling practices. Some provinces add their own layer: Ontario food premises operate under O. Reg. 493/17, BC plants fall under the regional health authorities, and Quebec has its own food establishment permits. The federal SFC licence does not replace the provincial premises approval — you need both where both apply.
Sources
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, What to consider before applying for a Safe Food for Canadians licence — the five application steps, licence structure, FSSI questionnaire, two-year term, and renewal window.
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Requesting a Safe Food for Canadians Licence — the My CFIA application walkthrough and the licence-activities selection.