Guide · Caterers

What a caterer
must have and may say.

A caterer in Ontario answers to three regulators at once: the local public health unit, the city, and, once drinks are involved, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). Each of them has something to say about what goes on your website. The city rules below are Toronto's, and every figure was checked against the source in November 2026.

Published 2026-11-04 · Formory Marketing Group

Short answer

Before cooking for clients in Ontario, notify the local medical officer of health; Toronto Public Health inspects home kitchens used commercially. Keep at least one trained food handler on site every hour. Toronto has no catering licence category: food businesses hold an eating or drinking or take-out licence. Selling drinks needs a caterer's endorsement; otherwise the host gets a permit.

Tell the health unit before you cook.

Under section 16 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, anyone who operates a food premise must run it in line with the regulations, and anyone who intends to start one must first notify the medical officer of health for the area. Section 5 of the Food Premises regulation, O. Reg. 493/17 says the notice gives your name, contact information and the location of the premises. The regulation was last amended by O. Reg. 497/24, in force since January 1, 2025.

Toronto Public Health's page on starting a food business lists home-based food premises among the businesses that must notify it; an inspector then contacts you. Results are published on DineSafe as Pass, Conditional Pass or Closed, and you post them as the inspector asks (s. 6).

Home kitchen or commercial kitchen.

The Act's definition of a food premise excludes "a room actually used as a dwelling in a private residence". Toronto Public Health draws the line at use: a home kitchen in which food is prepared for commercial purposes is a food premise. Cooking at home is not ruled out, but the kitchen is inspected against the same regulation as any other.

No room where food is prepared may be used for sleeping (s. 7(1)(b)). You need potable water, hot and cold running water, handwashing stations used only by staff and enough refrigeration (s. 7(3) and (4)), plus a dishwasher or a two- or three-compartment sink setup (s. 18). Food that is subject to government inspection must come from an inspected source, with purchase records kept for a year (s. 29). Potentially hazardous food stays at 4°C or colder or 60°C or hotter, apart from up to two hours during preparation (s. 27).

Toronto Public Health's guidance for special event food vendors adds that home-produced food may not be sold at a special event unless that home-based business has been inspected by a health unit, and that chopping, marinating and similar prep should happen at an inspected food premises, leaving only final assembly and cooking for the site. The law never uses the word "commissary": what matters is that your kitchen is an inspected food premise.

Someone trained on every shift.

Section 32 requires every food service premise to have at least one food handler or supervisor with food handler training on site during every hour it operates. A food service premise prepares meals for immediate consumption "on the premises or elsewhere" (s. 1), which takes in catering. Premises that prepare and serve only low-risk or pre-packaged ready-to-eat food are exempt (s. 3.1).

Toronto Public Health has closed its own food handler certification course, but it accepts certificates from any Ontario health unit and from providers approved by the Ministry of Health, valid for five years. If your website says your team is certified, keep the certificates current.

The City licence.

Section 545-2 of Toronto's Municipal Code Chapter 545 lists the businesses that need a City licence, and there is no catering category. Since January 1, 2025, food businesses are licensed as an eating or drinking establishment, serving food for consumption on site, or a take-out or retail food establishment, preparing food or drinks exclusively for consumption off site (s. 545-1 and s. 545-2A(72) and (74)).

Which one fits depends on what happens at your premises; the City points businesses to its Licence Finder Tool and its licensing office (416-392-6700). A take-out or retail food establishment licence costs $395.20 in total and renews for $261.04. An eating or drinking establishment licence is $536.64. Most new applications need zoning approval, and applicants submit their provincial business name registration. Once licensed, you may not advertise under any name other than the one on the licence (s. 545-5E(3)).

Alcohol: your endorsement or the host's permit.

A caterer that sells drinks needs a liquor sales licence with a caterer's endorsement, which lets it sell and serve liquor away from its licensed premises (O. Reg. 746/21, s. 17(4)). Under sections 60 to 62, the event lasts no more than ten consecutive days, is sponsored by someone else and is not held in a residence; repeat events for one sponsor must not look like an ongoing business; unsold liquor returns to inventory. The AGCO charges no fee for the endorsement. For a venue you do not control, you send event details to the AGCO and local police, fire, health and building departments.

Without a licence, the host takes out a special occasion permit: $50 a day for a private no-sale event, $150 a day if liquor is sold. Liquor cannot be sold at a residence, and a private-event permit holder cannot advertise. Anyone selling or serving needs AGCO-approved server training, such as Smart Serve, renewed every five years. If you supply bartenders but the host holds the permit, say so on the website.

What the website may say about drinks.

Section 2.3 of the AGCO's Registrar’s Interim Standards says a caterer's endorsement holder must not promote an event at which it is offering liquor for sale, or invite people to one. A page selling tickets to your own dinner with your cash bar is exactly that. Describing the bar service you offer clients is different, but the advertising guidelines still apply: nothing promoting excessive drinking, nothing aimed at people under the legal drinking age, and no suggestion that drinking is needed to enjoy an event or to succeed socially.

The AGCO's pricing guidance allows prices online if they are responsible. No serving below $2.00, or $1.34 for spirits over 14.8% (O. Reg. 746/21, s. 26), and no "2 for 1" offers. A fixed-price food-and-drinks package is allowed at an invitation-only event that is not advertised to the public: the food component must be at fair market price and represent no more than 50 per cent of the package price, guests pay nothing, drinks run for no more than eight hours, and the written contract with the organiser is kept for a year.

Allergens and free-from claims.

O. Reg. 493/17 does not mention allergens. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's allergen labelling guidance is written for packaged food: priority allergens, gluten sources and added sulphites are declared by specific names such as "wheat" and "egg", and CFIA recommends "May contain [X]" for cross-contamination.

CFIA's page on allergen-free claims says such claims count in advertisements too. "(Named allergen)-free" means absolutely none of it, a general "allergen-free" claim is not acceptable, and "gluten-free" must meet section B.24.018 of the Food and Drug Regulations. Unless you can back up "nut-free", list allergens per dish and ask about allergies on the booking form.

What the website should show.

The name on your City licence. Where you cook, if it is an inspected kitchen. Food handler certification only while current. Whether you hold a caterer's endorsement or the host gets the permit, with responsible drink copy and no promotion of your own events with a bar you run. Allergens per dish. Our notes on websites for caterers cover the rest.

This is a plain summary of the Health Protection and Promotion Act, O. Reg. 493/17, Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 545, O. Reg. 746/21 and AGCO and CFIA guidance as of November 2026, not legal advice.

Sources.

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Before you ask.

Can I run a catering business from my home kitchen in Toronto?

Toronto Public Health treats a home kitchen used for commercial cooking as a food premise. You notify it before starting, and the kitchen is inspected under O. Reg. 493/17.

Does every catering employee need a food handler certificate?

No. The regulation requires at least one trained food handler or supervisor on the premises during every hour of operation.

Can a caterer sell drinks at a wedding?

Yes, with a liquor sales licence and a caterer's endorsement, if someone else sponsors the event, it lasts no more than ten days and it is not in a residence. Otherwise the host applies for a special occasion permit.

Can our website say "nut-free"?

Only if there is absolutely no amount of nuts in the food. CFIA treats free-from claims in advertising like claims on labels, and a general "allergen-free" claim is not acceptable.

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What a caterermust have and may say.