FOOD WEBKitchens
Glossary termLicensing & Permits

Food handler certificate

Proof that a person has completed a recognized food-safety training course — handwashing, temperature control, cross-contamination and cleaning. It belongs to the person rather than the business, and some jurisdictions require it of the operator.

Three provinces show how the requirement gets written. In British Columbia, every operator of a food service establishment must hold a FOODSAFE certificate or equivalent. In Nova Scotia, an operator must successfully complete a food hygiene training program and provide proof of it to the Administrator on request, and when the operator is absent a trained member of personnel must be present. In Quebec, the home-production allowance is conditional on the operator having completed the province’s food establishment manager training.

Course names, delivery formats, renewal periods and which certificates a regulator will accept all differ, and a certificate recognized in one province is not automatically recognized in another. Check which programs your own regulator accepts before you pay for a course, particularly if you bought it online.

Keep a copy where you can produce it quickly. Inspectors ask for it, and kitchen operators generally want it on file before a new renter’s first booking. The licensing and permits guides cover where it sits among the other documents a food business collects.