Help/FAQs

Refer to the BC Public Health Act: Food Premises Regulation on our Take a course page.

FOODSAFE and MarketSafe certificates are issued by British Columbia's Regional Health Authorities.

• If you take FOODSAFE Level 1, FOODSAFE Level 2, or MarketSafe in BC, your certificate will be issued by the Health Authority in the community where you live. Find your local Health Authority contact.
• If you take the Level 1 Refresher course in BC, your certificate will be issued by the Fraser Health Authority.
• If you live outside of BC and take a FOODSAFE or MarketSafe online course through Open School BC, your certificate will be issued by the BC Branch of the Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors (CIPHI).
• ProcessSafe certificates are issued electronically and are received by e-mail after you have successfully completed the course.=

If you haven't received your certificate 4-6 weeks after completing your course, contact the Health Authority responsible for issuing your certificate.

If you require immediate confirmation that you passed the FOODSAFE Level 1 exam before you receive your certificate, be sure to ask your instructor for a Temporary FOODSAFE Level 1 Certificate before you leave the class.

If you take the FOODSAFE Level 1 course online and pass the exam, you will be able to print your own Temporary certificate.

ProcessSafe Certificates are e-mailed within 48 hours of successful completion of the course.

Certificate	Expiration Date
FOODSAFE Level 1 or FOODSAFE Level 1 Refresher	5 years after issued (date is indicated on your certificate)
FOODSAFE Level 2	No expiry date at present
MarketSafe	No expiry date at present
ProcessSafe	No expiry date at present

Upon successful completion of the ProcessSafe course, your certificate will be automatically e-mailed to you within 48 hours. If you did not receive your certificate, it may be for one of the following reasons:

1. Your e-mail address was entered incorrectly when you registered at Open School BC;
2. firewalls set up on your individual computer or computer network may be prohibiting the e-mail from going into your inbox. We recommend you check your junk e-mail box to see if the e-mail was redirected. If not, please contact the FOODSAFE Secretariat.

For FOODSAFE Level 1, Level 2 or MarketSafe, you may request a replacement certificate by contacting any Health Authority office in the province.

For ProcessSafe electronic certificates, please contact the FOODSAFE Secretariat.

Each Regional Health Authority has a FOODSAFE contact specific to certificates. Select your region on the map below to view their contact information.

The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) determines FOODSAFE Level 1 program equivalencies. For information on food safety training in BC, including a list of equivalencies, please visit http://www.bccdc.ca/health-info/food-your-health/food-safety/food-safety-training.

If a course is not on the BCCDC list, it is not considered equivalent. If you require further information on this matter, please contact the BCCDC as indicated on their webpage.

Registration links are available from the individual course pages. See Take a course.

Payment options are explained on the course provider's registration page.

	Classroom	Online	Correspondence
FOODSAFE Level 1	8 hours	up to 20 days	up to 6 months
Level 1 Refresher	n/a	up to 14 days	n/a
FOODSAFE Level 2	12 hours (2 days)	up to 28 days	n/a
MarketSafe	6.5 hours	up to 10 days	n/a
ProcessSafe	n/a	up to 4 weeks	n/a
Food Microbiology	n/a	up to 3 months	n/a

If you registered for a classroom course, contact information is available on the course search page. If you registered for an online course, contact Open School BC. If you registered for a correspondence course, contact go2HR.

Yes, multiple seats in a course can be booked, or a group training scheduled, through the following methods:

1. Take the course online through Open School BC - For Online courses please visit Open School BC for more information. If you wish to purchase a block of seats, call 1-888-883-4766.
2. Take the course by distance through Go2HR – For Distance courses please visit Go2HR for more information. If you wish to purchase a block of seats, call 604-633-9787.
3. Take an existing in-person class – For in-person courses, select Find a Course, choose your course name from the drop down menu and then city or health authority (note: if you can’t find any classes in your city, search by Health Authority). You may also want to contact one of these providers to see if they can provide you with a customized course for your students.
4. Hire an instructor directly to teach your group – To directly hire an instructor, Select Find an Instructor, then choose the course name and either city or health authority. You will have a list of instructors who you can contact in your city or region.
5. Contact your local college/university Continuing Education office or local community centre to see if they are willing to put up a FOODSAFE or MarketSafe course for your group (and others in the area).

Remember:

• All FOODSAFE and MarketSafe instructors must hold a valid instructor certificate from a BC Health Authority.
• Each course provider is independent, so the costs and specifics of the course may differ from one course provider to the next (depending on the services they need to provide, e.g. space, equipment, travel, etc.). Due to this, we recommend shopping around to find the provide that best suits your needs.
• If you need to have bilingual exams or workbooks in other languages, make sure you discuss this with the instructor ahead of time so that they can make these items available for your group.

Email your completed PDF application form to your local Health Authority's general FOODSAFE contact. Find the contact for your region.

Participant and Instructor learning materials can be purchased from Crown Publications, King's Printer (KP). Additional resources are available to instructors through the Instructor Portal.

Certified FOODSAFE instructors may request the exam(s) from the Regional Health Authority that issued their instructor certificates. General contact information for each Health Authority is available by selecting the appropriate region from the map below.

Instructors Outside of BC: Contact your local government agency responsible for food safety training in your province to request FOODSAFE exams.

Contact the Health Authority that issued your instructor certification. They will provide you with basic instructor login. Once you receive login, please update your profile. If you already have an account on the system and are experiencing difficulty accessing the site, please contact the FOODSAFE Secretariat at foodsafe@foodsafe.ca for assistance.

Provided you already have instructor access to the instructor portal, contact the FOODSAFE Secretariat to have access to this feature for your organization. If you do not have instructor status, please ensure that this is set up prior by your Health Authority prior to requesting assistance from the FOODSAFE Secretariat.

Accounts that are inactive for one or more years are automatically deactivated. Should you need your account reactivated, please contact foodsafe@foodsafe.ca.

Yes, all FOODSAFE instructor certificates have a five-year expiry date. To renew your instructor certification, contact your Health Authority.

fraserhealth.ca

General Foodsafe Contact

foodsafe@fraserhealth.ca

604-930-5405

islandhealth.ca

Certificate Contacts	General FOODSAFE Contact
Health Protection and Environmental Services foodsafe@islandhealth.ca 250-737-2017 (Duncan)	heather.hutton@islandhealth.ca 250-737-2011 (Heather Hutton)

northernhealth.ca

General FOODSAFE Contact

FOODSAFE@northernhealth.ca

250-565-7322

interiorhealth.ca

Certificate Contacts	General FOODSAFE Contacts
East Kootenay 250-420-2230 Kootenay Boundary 250-505-7200 option 3 Thompson 250-851-7340 Cariboo 250-395-7676 South Okanagan 250-770-5540, Fax 250-493-0041 North Okanagan 250-549-5707 Shuswap 250-833-4106	General Enquiries and FOODSAFE Reprints foodsafe@interiorhealth.ca

vch.ca

Certificate Contacts	General FOODSAFE Contacts
North Shore 604-983-6793 Vancouver 604-675-3800 Richmond 604-233-3147 Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton (Sea to Sky) 604-892-2293 Powell River 604-485-3310 (ext 4524) Sunshine Coast 604-885-5164	North Shore jennifer.flor@vch.ca 604-983-6800 (Jennifer Flor) Vancouver FOODSAFE Contact ehvc@vch.ca Richmond jagjeet.singh@vch.ca 604-233-3167 (Jagjeet Singh) Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton, Sunshine Coast, Powell River (Coast Garibaldi) healthprotectioncg@vch.ca

www.fnha.ca

General FOODSAFE Contacts

• Vancouver Island

  karen.larson@fnha.ca

  250-924-6125 (ext. 110)

  (Karen Larson)

• Northern

  patricia.knight@fnha.ca

  250-645-3006

  (Patricia Knight)

• Vancouver Coastal

  amber.lee@fnha.ca

  604-824-2606

  (Amber Lee)

• Interior Region

  bernice.debert@fnha.ca

  250-851-4836

  (Bernice Debert)

• stevie.scott@fnha.ca

  778-940-1130

  (Stevie Scott)

Environmental Health Services – Health and Social Services, Government of Yukon

environmental.health@gov.yk.ca

867-667-8391

Individuals with a FOODSAFE Level 1 certificate issued in the Province of British Columbia can recertify by taking one of the following offerings:

Only individuals with valid (non-expired) FOODSAFE Level 1 certificates are allowed to register for this course. Once your certificate has expired you will be required to take the regular FOODSAFE Level 1 course in-person, online or by correspondence/distance.

You need the personal identifier on your FOODSAFE certificate or wallet card

Certificate	Wallet Card

Or the following information for the individual which must match up exactly with the information in the FOODSAFE Registry

• First Name
• Last Name
• Gender
• Birth Date

Only individuals with valid (non-expired) FOODSAFE Level 1 certificates are eligible for this course.

If you took a different food safety course (not FOODSAFE) you are not eligible for the Refresher, even if you certificate is valid.

If you are eligible but have lost your certificate you can contact your local Health Authority for assistance. Their contact information is available at: http://www.foodsafe.ca/faq.html#haContacts

The FOODSAFE Level 1 Online Refresher course is offered by Open School BC. If you are having difficulty you should consult their frequently asked questions (FAQ) page at http://openschool.bc.ca/foodsafe_refresher/ or call their toll free customer service line at 1-888-883-4766

It takes 2-3 weeks following completion of your course to receive your certificate from your Health Authority by mail.

For a detailed answer, visit the Open School BC’s FAQ sheet at https://openschool.bc.ca/foodsafe_refresher/faq.