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Before you sign up for My CFIA

All My CFIA users must create a Contact Profile to request services for business or personal use:

Once you have created a Contact Profile, you can sign up for business use:

How to sign up for a Contact Profile

Everyone who uses My CFIA must create a Contact Profile, whether they need to request services for business or personal use. A Contact Profile identifies you in the system and allows others to give you access to their Party Profile. A Contact Profile also allows you to request services for personal use, such as requesting an import permit for a pet.

If you'd like to request services on behalf of a business or for personal use, you must proceed with the following:

You are ready to start using My CFIA for personal use. To sign up for business use, you must continue by following the next steps on this page.

How to sign up for business use

Once you've created a Contact Profile, you can create a Party Profile that you can use to request services on behalf of a business. Before you sign up to use My CFIA for your business, you'll need to have some information and documentation available. You'll also need to make some decisions about how to you want to set up your profile.

What you need to have ready when you sign up

Before you sign up, make sure you have the following information ready:

Why are we asking for proof of authority and business number?

To ensure those seeking services on behalf of a company are authorized to do so, the proof of authority form and your business number will be used by the agency for validation.

The proof of authority form ensures that the person enrolling as the profile authority has been authorized to claim that role. This is done by having the form signed by a current owner, partner, director, or company officer of the business.

Assigning contacts in My CFIA

When creating a party profile, you will be required to designate one or more individuals in the roles described below. You may need to consult within your company before deciding which individuals to assign to these roles.

The same individual can be designated in more than one role. For example, the profile manager can also be the profile authority and the emergency contact.

My CFIA Notifications

The following table outlines when a My CFIA contact can expect to receive an email notification based on their profile role:

Profile role Types of Notification Reason for Notification
Profile Manager, Service Request Applicant Permission issued When a new permission is issued
Profile Manager, Contact Profile being invited A new contact has been invited to your Party Profile When an invitation is sent to a new contact allowing them access to the Party Profile
Profile Manager, Service Request Applicant Payment received When CFIA has received a payment
Profile Manager, Profile Authority, Service Request Applicant Confirmation that a permission will be paid using on-account When your on-account number will be used to pay for a permission
Profile Manager, Profile Authority, Service Request Applicant A permission is expiring soon 15 and 30 days before a permission is set to expire
Profile Manager, Profile Authority, Service Request Applicant A permission has expired A permission has expired
Profile Manager, Profile Authority, Service Request Applicant A permission has been amended A permission is amended
Profile Manager, Profile Authority, Service Request Applicant A permission has been renewed A permission is renewed
Profile Manager, Party Contacts Other Varies but can include information or updates about updated guidance and regulatory information

Create a single or multiple party profiles

My CFIA provides your business with the flexibility to create single or multiple profiles. It is the responsibility of business owners to decide what will work best for their particular business model.

Watch our videos on applying for an SFC licence using single or multiple My CFIA profiles.

Get Ready for the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations

Single party profile

A single party profile is most suited to businesses that want to manage all business interactions with the CFIA through a head office or a single location.

With a single party profile, your business will be able to assign a profile manager and invite other party contacts, such as employees or brokers, to sign on to the profile. All party contacts will be able to view and submit requests on behalf of your business.

Multiple party profiles

Multiple party profiles are most suited to businesses that have multiple establishments, organizational units or business divisions that want to interact with the CFIA independently.

With multiple party profiles, each unit of your business can manage interactions with the CFIA and submit requests independently. Your business will be able to assign a separate profile manager and invite individuals (party contacts) to each party profile. Only the party contacts associated to a specific party profile will be able to view and submit requests on behalf of that party profile.

If you have questions about creating a party profile, call 1-800-442-CFIA (2342).

Special considerations for other Government Departments

Some other government departments or agencies may require CFIA issued permissions and, like businesses, can take advantage of requesting them through My CFIA with a party profile.

Keep in mind

When signing up for a My CFIA account as a federal or provincial government department or agency, you will reach a section titled Business Entity Information at the Party Enrolment – 10% complete stage. In this section, make sure to select "Federal Government Department or Provincial/Territorial Government Department" when selecting the business structure for your party profile. It is also important to ensure that all party contacts in your party profile have government email addresses.

When signing up for an account, you will be asked for a proof of business document. At this stage of the sign up process, you can upload a signed letter by a Procurement or Financial Officer on government letterhead. In the case of federal or some provincial governments, the letter can state that they are exempt from paying the Goods and Services Tax (GST) or the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) on purchases of taxable supplies and services. The letter may be similar in form and content to the following:

This is to certify that the property and/or services ordered/purchased hereby are being purchased by

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(Name of Provincial/Territorial Government Department)

and are not subject to the GST/HST.

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Signature of Procurement or Financial Officer

Finally, when it comes to uploading the proof of authority form, other government departments can use the same form that CFIA regulated businesses use and have it signed and dated by a member of the organization at the Director level or higher.

Special considerations for food business

Your food business may need to meet new requirements including licensing, preventive controls, and traceability when the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations come into force on January 15, 2019.

Keep in mind

Your business can apply for the recommended one licence per establishment regardless of whether you have a single or multiple party profiles.

If you want to have one licence for your entire business, you will need to have one party profile for your entire business. You cannot apply for one licence for your entire business using multiple party profiles.

Before determining the licensing structure (single or multiple) that fits your business needs, consider the following:

  • you have to pay a fee for each licence you request
  • you have to prepare, maintain and implement a preventive control plan for each licence you hold
  • if a CFIA enforcement action, such as suspension or cancellation, is taken on your licence this will impact all activities and food sectors covered by that licence.
  • if a multiple licence structure is chosen, an enforcement action taken on one licence could lead to targeted inspections of the other licences, especially in cases where elements of the preventive control plans overlap
  • many foreign trading partners require that each establishment where a food commodity is prepared be assigned a unique identification number
  • if you prepare food for export, you should only have one licence to prepare food at an establishment

The Safe Food for Canadians Regulations licence will be available when the regulations come into force. Sign up for a My CFIA account now to renew or apply for a current licence, registration or permit.

You're ready to sign up for business use

Now that you have all the information you need, you can sign up for My CFIA:

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