Food Safety

Food Safety

NEW: December 23, 2020

Safe Food for Canadians licence renewals

Some Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licence holders will need to take action now to ensure they renew their licence before it expires. Some SFC licences expire on January 15, 2021 while others will expire in the days and weeks that follow.

If you have an SFC licence, it can be renewed online through your My CFIA account. Submit your request for renewal as soon as possible to allow sufficient processing time. You can do so up to 120 days before the expiry date of your licence. No matter how early you apply, your renewed SFC licence will be valid for two years from the original expiry date.

If your licence expires, your business will no longer be permitted to conduct licensed activities in accordance with the Safe Food for Canadians Act and may be subject to enforcement actions and removal from export eligibility lists. You will then need to apply for a new licence and be issued a new licence number, which may further disrupt your business activities including the ability to request export certification.

Need assistance? Here are useful links.

Help us determine your risk level

If you have not already done so, please complete the Establishment Risk Assessment (ERA) questionnaire during your renewal process to ensure your establishment risk is accurately documented. Parties without a completed ERA questionnaire are considered high-risk facilities by the CFIA and are prioritized for more frequent inspection.

Thank you,

Katie Donnelly O’Neill


The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) make the Canadian food system even safer by focusing on prevention and allowing for faster removal of unsafe food from the marketplace.

Under these regulations, as of January 15, 2019, new licensing, preventive control and traceability requirements apply to food businesses that import or prepare food for export or to be sent across provincial or territorial boundaries.

ABC, BeeMaid, and the Saskatchewan Beekeepers Development Commission (SBDC) have pooled resources to acquire the Safe Honey Production Practices (SHPP) 2019 program templates to support the transition from the old Canadian Food Inspection Agency food safety requirements for honey, to the new CFIA requirements in the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR).

The purpose of the Safe Honey Production Practices 2019 (SHPP 2019) program is to improve the quality of Canadian honey in the worldwide market by providing honey producers and graders with a set of policies, standard operating procedures and safe honey production records that focus on biosecurity, quality, and traceability in compliance with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) Safe Food for Canadians Regulations/Act (SFCR/A).

To request a copy of the Safe Honey Production Practices 2019 (SHPP 2019) program templates, please contact office@albertabeekeepers.ca.

Helpful resources