ISO 22000 certification in Canada

ISO 22000 certification in Canada at a glance

Which food safety standard should a Canadian processor choose? The answer starts with the law. The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations require licence holders to maintain a written preventive control plan, and ISO 22000 wraps a certifiable management system around that plan: interactive communication along the food chain, prerequisite programmes, hazard control, verification, and management review. It suits ingredient suppliers, packaging and storage businesses and processors whose customers want an internationally recognised certificate without a scheme-specific audit. Where a retailer or brand owner insists on a scheme-based certificate, FSSC 22000 adds sector prerequisite programmes and Foundation FSSC's rules on top of ISO 22000, so the same work carries forward. Sterling's Toronto office helps clients decide between the two, then builds the system, trains the food safety team through Sterling Academy and prepares the site for audit by an accredited certification body, which issues the certificate. The questions processors raise most are answered below.

Who needs ISO 22000 in Canada, and what happens without it

In Canada the question rarely comes from a law. It comes from the buyer, the regulator or the partner that wants proof before it signs. These are the organisations that get asked.

• Food manufacturers and processorsSFCR requires a written preventive control plan; ISO 22000 gives a certifiable system around it.
• Ingredient, packaging and storage businesses in the food chainISO 22000 applies to any organisation in the food chain.
• Exporters whose customers ask for a recognised food safety management systemBuyers set certification requirements.

ISO 22000 requirements in Canada

Strip away the vocabulary and ISO 22000 requires a company to prove six things about keeping food safe from supplier to customer.

In Canada these six sit alongside the local laws and regulations listed under drivers below; one system can evidence both. The detail is on the global hub: ISO 22000 explained →

• ISO 22000 requirements, clause by clause in plain language
• The documents ISO 22000 expects
• ISO 22000 checklist

How to get ISO 22000 certified in Canada

One team from the Toronto office carries the work from scoping to certificate. Delivered from the Toronto office: on-site in Ontario and by arrangement in other provinces; remote delivery for distributed teams.

1. Discovery call and scopeEntities, locations, regulators and target date, agreed before any proposal.
2. Gap assessment against ISO 22000 and the Canadian requirements that apply to youControls you already run for your regulators and customers are reused, not rebuilt.
3. Your system built with your team in EffivityRisks, controls, evidence, incidents and reviews in one live system the auditor can see.
4. Internal audit, management review and corrective actionsYour internal auditors trained by Sterling; the evidence proven before the certification body arrives.
5. Certification body stage 1 and stage 2, then surveillanceAn accredited body audits and decides. Sterling supports the audits and the three-year cycle.

The Sterling Promise: 100% on-time completion, 100% success, 8,100+ client engagements.Sterling does not certify. Certification decisions stay with independent bodies.

• The ISO 22000 certification process, step by step
• ISO 22000 gap analysis
• ISO 22000 implementation plan
• ISO 22000 internal audit

How long does ISO 22000 certification take in Canada?

There is no standard duration: it depends on your scope and on how much of the system already runs. In Canada these are the factors that set the timeline.

• Number of sites and product categories
• Maturity of prerequisite programmes and the preventive control plan
• Time to evidence verification, internal audit and management review

Sterling agrees a dated plan with you on the discovery call, once the scope is known.

• What drives the ISO 22000 timeline
• Scope and timeline estimator

How much does ISO 22000 certification cost in Canada?

The cost has two parts: the consulting work to build and prove the system, and the certification body’s audit fees, which are quoted separately. In Canada these factors move both.

• Number of sites and product lines
• Infrastructure and prerequisite programme gaps
• Certification body audit fees quoted separately from consulting

Sterling gives one customised, all-inclusive proposal after the discovery call, never before the scope is agreed.

• What makes up the cost of ISO 22000

ISO 22000 consultants and certification bodies in Canada

Two different organisations are involved. A consultant helps you build the system and prove it works; an accredited certification body then audits or assesses it and decides. Keeping the two separate is what makes the result credible to buyers and regulators.

• Check that the body’s accreditation or approval covers ISO 22000 and your sector, and that its certificates can be verified online.
• Ask the consultant how the local requirements in Canada are mapped into the same system, so nothing runs twice.
• Ask for client references in your sector; Sterling’s client letters are available on request.
• Agree who owns the evidence and the tool after the engagement; with Sterling the system stays yours, in Effivity.

• Choosing an ISO 22000 certification body
• How to verify an ISO 22000 certificate

ISO 22000 in Canada: questions clients ask

More on ISO 22000 for Canadian organisations

• ISO 22000: the complete guide
• Watch: How to implement ISO 22000
• Catering and hotels: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Feed and animal food: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Food and beverage manufacturing: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Food packaging manufacturing: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Ingredients and supplements: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Retail and wholesale: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Transport, storage and distribution: ISO 22000 for the sector
• Sterling in Toronto
• ISO 22000 certification in Canada and every other standard Sterling delivers there

Other standards Canadian businesses ask Sterling for

Organisations in Canada often combine ISO 22000 with one of these, under one management system where the scopes allow.

All 21 standards Sterling delivers in Canada →