Hello everyone!

I've been looking through this site a lot over the past week and decided its finally time to create an account and start posting. All of you seem to be very helpful and I'm hoping I can also help and be helped =o)

I'm planning to start selling my baked goodies, but dont know what legal considerations I need to worry about. I dont plan to do much of this for now, maybe 2 or 3 orders a month as I have a full time job. Anything I sell would be baked out of my home kitchen.

Anyone out there from Canada and know what (if anything) I need to do before I am able to start charging for my services? Thanks a bunch in advance!

Jenni

Hi there,

It really depends on where about in Canada you are. The laws (by-laws) vary from province to province. The first thing you need to know is if you are allowed to legally sell baked good from you home. Check with your local health department to see what the laws are for your area. Some laws state that you have to a separate kitchen or certain requirements for your home kitchen (separate hand washing sink, separate refrigeration, separate food storage etc...) If your laws state that you can't sell legally from home, then you could look into renting kitchen space from a community centre or church, but if your only doing 2-3 cakes a month that might not be a cost effective solution.
If you are able to sell from home, then you will need to have your kitchen inspected and then go about the process of getting a business number and name.

good luck,




edited to add: that if you need more info please feel free to pm me (I'm in Ontario)

First you need to go to the city/town in which you live in and inquire what you need to open a home food business.You will need..

1. Business licence
2. The health dept will have to licence you after you build/rent/a space.

Here in Calgary I am required to have a seperate kitchen area from my home use kitchen with sink and hot running water.I am also required to have a refrigerater but not a oven...go figure!.Since Cake Decorating doesn't fall under "Food Preperation/Catering" here you are not required to have a food safety course.As long as you have a licence and the health dept comes out and inspects your space...you are good to go.Now you need to contact your area to find this all out as it differs all over the country and the US.

Tubbs is right....You hear many different things from various peopole in the depts.I only had to have a 2 compartment sink back when I did my kitchen but I guess that has changed...and the food safety course I guess is now a must so check it out really good!!

Thanks for the responses!

I'm also in Calgary, so that information helps a lot. Sounds like everyone is told something different. I guess it makes sense that all these steps are necessary for the sake of safety... but if its something I do rarely I wonder if its worth the time and cost for me. Hmm...

Anyone know if it makes a difference if I'm not out there advertising myself? My baking is pretty much for friends and family, its just starting to get to the point where I cant keep doing this for free anymore.