I am a stay at home mom of 2 little boys and have been doing cakes from home for almost a year. I live in a small rural town and my name has finally begun to get out there and I am getting pretty steady business from my surrounding communities. At this point in time, I have not registered myself as a business but am wondering if now is the time. I have spoken to a few different people, some who have said that there is no reason to register unless you are making a substantial amount of profit, whereas others have said there are a ton of benefits to being registered. My concern is I do this from home (for now) and don't want to have to start making renovations etc in order to run the business. Has anyone been through the process and have any suggestions?

Registering isn't solely about how much profit you make. It just depends on how concerned you might be about getting caught. Are you claiming this income on your taxes as you ought to be? "Pretty steady business" implies that you are profiting and of course we all know the government wants a cut of that, no matter how small.

The other factor is that food that is sold should be prepared and stored in proper conditions as per your local health inspector's recommendations to not only protect your goods, but your customer...and even yourself from lawsuits.

There may also be lax rules in a more rural/cottage area, so you may not have to worry at all about all the regulations like having a separate entrance, doored kitchen, separate bathroom, triple-sink, etc. (Not at ALL to suggest that these places are less clean!! They just allow for things like country market sales, booths by the side of roads, etc. too) Every municipality has its own rules as to whether they care or not. Some forbid food production in places other than strictly inspected facilities, some won't "zone" your home for it, others couldn't care less and MOST don't even know what their own rules are! (You'll see a ton of confusion everywhere about this....one city hall department saying one thing, another department saying another thing. This happens all over! )

I know it's a hassle to not only nail down exactly what regulations your area will ask of you and to then comply with some of those if you're doing it from home....but I've heard the fines are pretty stiff. All it takes is one "competitor" or bad customer to end things for you in a pretty messy, costly and ugly way.

Why not just inquire with the city? Can't hurt to be informed. You might just be surprised to find out that nothing is required of you...then you can sleep better knowing you're doing nothing "wrong" and your business is safe.

All that being said, in the 9 years I've had my own company, I've only heard rumours of one or two people being investigated and inspected and subsequently receiving a fine. I can tell you from having countless friends who make cakes or do catering on the side, it's NOT the health inspector you have to worry about....it's the tax man that is way more likely to catch you.

antonia74
I've just registered my company for the exact reasons you mentioned. At the present time, I'm looking at renting kitchen space in a local culinary college as they have the proper permits.
Do say you have been running your own company for 9 years. Do you run out of your home? If so, how did you get it approved? I don't have a problem in renovating the basement to whatever standards are needed (I would NEVER risk my business or possible legal problems). I can't find any information on this subject. I'm in Brampton.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

antonia74
Thanks so much for your quick response! I have spoken to the Peel Region Public Health Department and they pretty much said that it's next to impossible to use the house. Even if I could, the amount of money that I'd need to put into renovating would be prohibitive.

I'm going to go the rental route. One question (sorry to keep asking you stuff) but did you need to apply for a Food Handler permit?

Once again, thanks !!!

It's nice to hear I'm not the only one going through this process.

I have spoken with my local Health Unit and have been told the same thing...it's next to impossible to do a home based business with food. I would need to have a completely separate kitchen from the house, with separate sinks, appliances etc. I also inquired with the Health unit about renting kitchen space to do my baking and was told that I would have to do all of my decorating there as well since the fondant etc is considered a "food" product. Has anyone else come across this? I've seen in some other forums that people have been doing their baking in a regulation abiding kitchen, but then decorating from home.

Zoning wise, I am allowed to run a home based business in my area, but now I'm a little bit stuck on if it's even possible and then what....

i'm so glad to hear from fellow ontario-iansi'm in the same boat, i feel like i keep looking for answers and not getting anywhere. the whole food thing is a bit touchy (from home) but i work at a long term care home in the kitchen so have picked up great food handling tips. i understand if you wanted to sell food at say a farmer's market you have to have a sanitation certificate (pass the test at the health unit) but other than that i haven't learned much else. it gets a little daunting and makes me more determined to just open my own store (seems like it would be less hassle than renovating a basement) and i must be clueless, but i had no idea until just now that you were from the GTA antonia

It's all very convoluted. I'm going to contact the Brampton Small Business Association and if I find out anything (good or bad), I'll post it.

By the way michellesArt, I was in Collingwood today! My inlaws have a place in Swiss Meadows!

maybe next time you're up we could meet over coffee TH anyone?lol...i like your puck by the way it's always nice to meet a fellow cake decorator

Definitely! The next time I go up there, I'll post it. It would be great to talk about gum paste, fondant and royal icing with someone who UNDERSTANDS!!! My husband just glazes over (no pun intended) when I get on a roll (ok....pun intended)

ditto-he just tunes out-all he wants to see is the finished cake, not the bumps along the road!!

Hi Everyone,
After thinking about starting a home based business in Newmarket Ontario for the past several years I finally decided to make a few calls and find out if it's possible. Here's what I was told:

Your home must be properly zoned. If it is not you must apply for a zoning by-law...which is a lengthy process.

Then you must have a separate kitchen etc. and then pass Fire and Health department inspections.

The health inspector that I talked to said that home bakeries have been established in Ontario but it is much easier and cost effective to rent a commercial kitchen. She referred me to the following: Food Premise Regulations. Type the following into google to read all the details: "Health Protection and Promotion Act + RRO 1990 Regulation 562"
She said that these regulations are Ontario wide....not just for small towns or larger cities.

I was quite sad to receive all of this information. It's a really big time and financial commitment to open a commercial kitchen. I was hoping to get my business off and running with a test at home for a few years.

I hope that this info helps my fellow Canadian Bakers!

Tara[/img]

Hey all!

Ok, so obviously in house bakery is not looking promising for us all. lol.... but what will it take to start from a rented kitchen?
Insurance? Business Registration? License? Food Safe Cert? Does anyone have any info to share? Also.. while I'm at it, and this may be a closely gaurded secret but, does anyone know of any rental kitchens? I know of one, but it's a little pricey..

Thanks bunches!!!

Just a note about churches. I know my in-laws church in Tweed ON is considering renting space to another religious organization for cash in flow. Not all churches need this or would be open to this, but in smaller communities with church membership not always on the rise, they may be open to the rental fees. I also know I was allowed to decorate my in laws cake there over the weekend and it was heaven, pardon the pun. It would not hurt to ask.

I was just wondering if anyone got any new ifo or actually started up?! Congrats if you did!! Share info if you can!!!

Thanks bunches!!

I am in Calgary, but I am in the same boat as all of you. So I am, interested to see what you all find out.

Hey Canadians! Absolutely ask the local churches if they have a licensed (or licensable) kitchen and if they rent. My church is happy to rent. We rent to two groups right now that have no religious connections whatsoever, and who cares, they are helping pay the mortgage. I've been thinking about this too (in Alberta though). If we ever do a major renovation or build new, then I would seriously consider putting in the second kitchen. However, since that isn't happening and isn't likely to happen for several years, my best bet is probably my church kitchen, if it would pass inspection. The problem is that the rental rate is $20 per hour or $70 per day, which is actually quite good, except that if you factor that in to the price of a cake, I can't see anyone buying, and since the only people who know I decorate cakes right now are my family, I'm not likely to be making more than one at a time so I could spread the cost around. So do I do illegal cakes from home and take the risk of a fine (which I would if it were only $200, but someone posted that they heard it was around $10,000 -- gack), or do I rent? But I figure if I got really serious about it and wanted my own kitchen, I would have other expenses to cover with the price of the cakes and those would be as much or more than the rental from the church. So I'm thinking that maybe I should rent and if ends up that it's not worth it, then that tells me decorating is a hobby and don't build a second kitchen.

In Alberta, there are a very few foods that can be prepared at home in your regular kitchen for sale in a farmer's market. That includes pickles and jams and low risk foods like bread and muffins. Due to the butter in the buttercream, I don't think decorated cakes would be allowed.

Maybe we should all be building rental kitchens for our communities instead.

I agree with the idea of maybe we should build community kitchens that can be rented. This is so difficult to get everything figured out and to decide if you want to take the plunge or not.
For the time being I will make cakes for family and friends and try and find a church that will work for me (my churchs kitchen isnt a commercial kitchen).

My church moved and rebuilt about 10 years ago, and it now has a small hall and kitchen. The kitchen doesn't have a license or whatever you get from the health inspection, but I think it could pass an inspection (just one item that I think might not comply). I think it would be good for the church to have it licensed anyway -- more potential to rent it out (though that would be bad for me if I want to use it, I suppose). Is your church kitchen not licensed because it just hasn't been done, or would it just not pass an inspection?

I dont think my church kitchen would pass the inspection. It doesnt have a triple sink, steel appliances or a proper cooler.
But that doesnt mean I wont call around to other churches and see what I can come up with