Food facility licences on a change of owner in Saskatchewan

A Saskatchewan restaurant or food processor is licensed under The Food Safety Regulations, made under The Public Health Act, 1994, and a licence is issued for a particular food facility. A buyer who assumes it travels with the business can end up owning premises they are not allowed to run. The regulations say so directly, and they also set rules on alterations, display, conditions and cancellation that apply to whoever operates the facility. This guide takes those provisions in order, notes where the Food Facility Standards add obligations, and lists what to ask the seller and the local authority before closing.

A licence is required and cannot be transferred

Section 5(1) says that, subject to the exceptions in subsections (2) and (5), no person shall operate a food facility unless the person holds a valid licence for that food facility. A food facility under the regulations means a public eating establishment, a milk plant, a processing facility or a slaughter plant. Section 9 then says a licence is not transferable. Subject to section 11, section 8 of The Food Safety Regulations makes a licence valid for one year from issue, or for any lesser period set out in the licence. A buyer should therefore treat the seller’s licence as ending with the seller’s operation and plan to hold one of their own.

Applying to the local authority

Under section 6 an applicant submits an application to the local authority and provides any information or material it requests. The local authority must issue or renew the licence, or refuse where it concludes the application is incomplete or contains false or misleading information, where a public eating establishment, milk plant or slaughter plant is being operated contrary to the regulations, or where refusal is in the public interest. It must tell the applicant its decision in writing, and it may impose terms and conditions it considers appropriate. Section 12 lets it require further information it may reasonably require, at any time. Ask the local authority how long a new application takes, and build that into the closing date.

Plan approval before any alteration

Section 4(1) says no person shall construct, extend, renovate or alter a food facility without approval from the local authority. Subsection (2) excludes routine maintenance and work that does not affect the quantity or type of food or drink prepared or how it is prepared. The Food Facility Standards go further and say anyone constructing, extending, renovating, altering or establishing a food facility shall submit detailed plans and receive approval from the public health officer before work starts. A buyer planning a new kitchen line or a layout change should get approval before ordering equipment, and should ask the seller whether earlier renovations were approved.

Conditions, standards and training

Section 7 forbids failing to comply with any term or condition of a licence, and section 12.1 requires every licensee to comply with the Food Facility Standards. The Standards say that, although they are not themselves law, their provisions become legally binding when attached as a condition of a licence. So the paper that matters is the licence itself, with its conditions. The Standards also address food handler training, including that an operator ensure employees are adequately trained to handle food safely, and that a person who has successfully completed a provincially-approved food safety course is working in the facility at all times when food is being prepared or served. Ask the seller for the current licence and every attachment, and ask whether any condition has been varied since it was issued.

Display, inspection and suspension

Section 10 requires the operator to display a valid licence in a conspicuous place where customers can see it. Under section 11, and subject to The Public Health Appeals Regulations, a local authority may amend, suspend or cancel a licence if the licensee has contravened the Act, the regulations or a licence condition, or is operating a food facility in a manner that is injurious to or may endanger the public health. The Government of Saskatchewan states that public health inspectors employed by the Saskatchewan Health Authority inspect restaurant-type facilities, and its Inspection InSite site publishes public health inspection report information for restaurant-type facilities, while warning that the reports are not intended to guarantee a facility’s conditions at all times. Read the premises’ reports before you sign.

• Ask the local authority in writing what a buyer must file and what proof of the change of operator it needs.
• Ask the seller for the licence, every condition on it and any written plan approval.
• Read the published inspection report history and ask about each finding.
• Confirm who will hold the trained-handler role the Standards describe.
• Make closing conditional on your own licence, with your lawyer drafting how the business is run until then.

For the other approvals that may follow a food business, see the guide to restaurant licences and transfers.