# How to start a home bakery in Canada: provincial rules, business number, GST/HST and your first month

> Start a home bakery in Canada: the rules in Ontario, BC, Alberta and Quebec, a CRA business number, the $30,000 GST/HST threshold and which baked goods are zero-rated.

To start a home bakery in Canada, start with your province, because
provinces, not Ottawa, decide whether you can bake for sale at home. In
Ontario you tell your local public health unit you are a new food operator.
In Alberta, low-risk home-prepared food needs no permit but must carry a
home-kitchen label. In Quebec you need a MAPAQ permit, mandatory food hygiene
training, and you can produce no more than 100 kg of food a month in a home
kitchen. British Columbia allows lower-risk home baking at temporary food
markets; anything else goes through your regional health authority. Federally,
you need a CRA business number only when you register for a program account
such as GST/HST, which becomes compulsory once taxable sales pass $30,000 over
four consecutive calendar quarters. Many whole cakes and multi-packs of six
or more single servings are zero-rated.

Every province and the restrictions on each are in
[home baking laws by state and country](/blog/home-baking-laws-by-state-and-country);
the questions to ask your health unit are in
[do I need a license to sell cakes from home](/blog/do-i-need-a-license-to-sell-cakes-from-home).
Check with your local public health unit or provincial agency before you rely
on any step here.

## Step 1: sort your menu into low-risk and everything else

Every province draws the same line: foods that need refrigeration. Ontario's
Ministry of Health lists as low-risk most breads and buns without meat or
cream filling, most baked goods with no custard, cakes with icing that does
not need refrigeration, brownies, muffins and cookies. Cheesecake, custard,
whipped cream and cream cheese fillings fall outside that list nearly
everywhere, and in some provinces outside home baking altogether.

Write your launch menu as low-risk only if you can. It is the difference
between a phone call and a permit process in most provinces.

## Step 2: follow your province's route

### Ontario

1. Decide what you will sell, using the low-risk list.
2. Contact your local public health unit and tell them you are a new food
   operator. They will advise on food safety for your specific menu.
3. Expect periodic inspection under the Food Premises Regulation.
4. Low-risk-only businesses are exempt from dedicated handwashing stations,
   commercial dishwashing requirements and food handler training
   certification.

The Ministry also tells home businesses to check municipal zoning by-laws,
permits and licensing before calling public health. Do that first; a zoning
problem ends the conversation.

### British Columbia

BC has no general home-bakery permit. Under the BC Centre for Disease Control
guideline for temporary food markets, vendors of lower-risk foods, including
cakes with icing-sugar icing and no dairy or whipped cream, do not have to
apply to their health authority before selling at a market. Selling from home,
online or to shops is a different matter: ask your regional health authority,
and expect to need an approved premises such as a rented commercial kitchen.

### Alberta

Alberta is the most open. Low-risk home-prepared foods that do not need
refrigeration can be sold from home, online, by mail order, at special events
and at farmers' markets, with no permit. The conditions:

- they cannot be resold
- the label must give information about the food and the producer
- the label must state that the food was prepared in a home kitchen that is
  not subject to inspection, and is not for resale

Alberta encourages, but does not require, food safety training. Alberta Health
Services answers specific questions.

### Quebec

Quebec is the strictest of the four:

1. Get the appropriate MAPAQ permit for retail sale or food service.
2. Complete the mandatory food hygiene and safety training.
3. Expect an inspector to check your facilities before and during operation.
4. Stay under 100 kg of food produced per month in a home kitchen; above that
   you need dedicated premises.
5. Sell direct to the consumer only, with no wholesale or resale through an
   intermediary.

Permit fees are set by MAPAQ and are not on the home-food page; check the
retail and food service permits page.

### Elsewhere

Manitoba does not permit home-based food businesses beyond shelf-stable food
at farmers' markets, craft sales and bake sales. Nova Scotia allows low-risk
home-baked goods without a permit, sold direct. Saskatchewan, New Brunswick,
PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador each have their own route; the laws table
links each one.

## Step 3: register a business name

If you sell under your own name, there is usually nothing to register. A
trading name such as "Northern Crumb Bakery" is registered with your province
(ServiceOntario in Ontario, the Registraire des entreprises in Quebec, and so
on). Fees and renewal periods are provincial; check your province's business
registry.

## Step 4: CRA business number and GST/HST

You need a business number (BN) when you register for a CRA program account,
such as GST/HST, or incorporate. A sole proprietor below the GST/HST threshold
may not need one at all. Since November 3, 2025, new BN and program account
registrations are done online, and the BN arrives instantly.

You are a small supplier, and do not have to register for GST/HST, while your
worldwide taxable sales are $30,000 or less in a single calendar quarter and
over the last four consecutive calendar quarters. Go over that and you must
register within 29 days. You can register voluntarily below the threshold,
but you then stay registered for at least a year.

Which bakery sales are taxable matters even before you register, because it
decides how your prices change when you do. Under the CRA's basic groceries
rules:

- **Zero-rated:** plain bread, bagels, rolls and croissants without sweet
  filling or coating; a whole cake or other item weighing 230 g or more; a
  package of six or more single servings, such as a dozen cookies or a box of
  six cupcakes. A wedding cake supplied by the decorator is zero-rated when it
  weighs at least 230 g.
- **Taxable:** cakes, muffins, pies, pastries, tarts, cookies, doughnuts,
  brownies and sweet-filled croissants sold as single servings (under 230 g)
  in quantities of fewer than six. Catering, where you deliver and arrange or
  serve the food, is treated differently.

So a baker selling a single cookie and a dozen cookies charges tax on one and
not the other. Price your singles with that in mind.

Report your bakery profit on your personal income tax return as business
income, and keep every receipt for ingredients, packaging and equipment.

## Step 5: labels and allergens

Canada's priority food allergens are eggs, milk, mustard, peanuts,
crustaceans and molluscs, fish, sesame seeds, soy, sulphites, tree nuts, and
wheat and triticale, plus gluten sources. Pre-packaged foods must list
ingredients in decreasing order and identify these allergens by their common
names. Your province then adds its own lines; Alberta's home-kitchen
statement is the obvious one. Keep a written allergen list for every
unpackaged product too, because customers will ask and inspectors will check.

## Step 6: food safety training

The rule depends on your province. Quebec makes hygiene training mandatory.
Ontario exempts low-risk-only home businesses from food handler
certification, and that exemption ends once you go beyond low-risk. Alberta
encourages it. Elsewhere, ask your health unit. A recognised food handler
course is a small cost and the first thing a market organiser asks about.

## Step 7: insurance

Markets and venues usually require a commercial general liability
certificate (including product liability) before you can set up. Tell your
home insurer you run a business from home, since many policies exclude it. If
you hire, check your province's workers' compensation board rules. Prices
vary by province and product mix; get quotes from a broker who writes food
businesses.

## Step 8: price your first products

Cost everything from what you paid: ingredients, packaging, your hours at a
wage you would accept, then margin. Then check the GST/HST rule above,
because selling cookies by the half-dozen instead of singly can keep a
product zero-rated. Worked examples in Canadian dollars:
[cake prices by country](/blog/cake-prices-by-country),
[cake pricing calculator](/blog/cake-pricing-calculator),
[how to price cookies for a cookie business](/blog/how-to-price-cookies-for-a-cookie-business)
and [how to price sourdough bread](/blog/how-to-price-sourdough-bread).

## Step 9: orders, deposits and winter

Write your order terms first: lead time, deposit, balance date, cancellation,
pickup or delivery. For custom cakes, 50 percent at booking and the balance
7 to 14 days before the event is the common structure (see
[how much deposit for a custom cake](/blog/how-much-deposit-for-a-custom-cake)).
Canadian winters add one clause to your terms: what happens if a storm
stops a delivery or pickup. See
[delivering cakes in winter](/blog/cold-climate-cake-logistics-canada).

## Your first-month checklist

| Week | Do |
|---|---|
| Before week 1 | Zoning checked; menu sorted into low-risk and other |
| Week 1 | Health unit or provincial agency contacted; Quebec bakers apply for the MAPAQ permit and book hygiene training |
| Week 2 | Business name registered if needed; insurance quotes; kitchen and storage set up |
| Week 3 | Labels with allergens and any provincial statement; allergen list for unpackaged items |
| Week 4 | Prices costed with GST/HST status per product; order terms written; first orders |
| Ongoing | Taxable sales tracked by calendar quarter against $30,000; receipts kept |

## Where ibakepro fits

ibakepro is bakery management software for Canadian bakers, from a home
kitchen working under a provincial permit to bakeries with staff and more than
one location. Tax is set by product category, so a single cinnamon bun can sit
in a taxable category and the box of six in a zero-rated one, and once you
register you enter your GST or HST rate and it is added to each order. Priority allergens roll up from
each ingredient to every product, prices and deposits are in Canadian dollars,
and Growth and Business keep the temperature and cleaning records a public
health inspector reads. Essentials is C$23 a month, Growth C$30 and Business
C$81, with a 14-day free trial. See [orders and quotes](/features/orders-and-quotes),
[recipe costing](/features/recipe-costing) and
[Compliance](/features/food-safety-and-compliance).