Community Event and Farmers' Market Notification

Any individual or group planning to offer food and/or beverages to the public at an event or farmers market shall notify the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit by completing this notification a minimum of 15 days prior to the event.

Before completing notification, please consider the following:

• Do you require approval from your municipality?

• Do you have insurance for your event? If you are handling food at home, have you notified your residential insurance provider that you are operating a business out of your home? Foodborne outbreaks happen. Physical and chemical contaminants can be found in food that may result in an injury to a person. While every food handler tries to prevent these occurrences from happening, incidents do happen. Are you protected if something goes wrong?

• Selling food to the public is a regulated industry. You are ultimately responsible for your event to meet all requirements of Ontario Regulation 493, Food Premises. Ensure you read the regulation, so you know your responsibilities. Consequences exist if the regulation is not followed which can include, closure, fines and seizure of food items.

• Please see this guide for starting a home based business. If you are providing food to the public at an operating frequency that exceeds 14 days per calendar year you will require a mandatory inspection.

If you are holding a community event with any potentially hazardous food items (hot dogs, hamburgers or other food items that are listed in the attached list) there must be at least one food handler who has completed a safe food handler certification course while you are operating. 

List of potentially hazardous foods

By submitting this form, you are acknowledging the information you provided is accurate.