How to Choose a Co-Packer in Canada

Handing your recipe to a co-packer is one of the biggest decisions an early food brand makes. The right partner lets you sell across the country without building a plant; the wrong one can leave you with product you can’t legally ship or a recall you can’t trace. Here’s how to choose a co-packer in Canada, including the Safe Food for Canadians (SFCR) licensing questions many founders miss.

Step 1: Define what you actually need

Co-packers vary. Manitoba Agriculture’s guidance notes that some facilities only package, while others handle formulation, production, packaging and labelling, and few do everything. Decide which of these you need before you start calling:

• Recipe scale-up from a test-kitchen batch
• Ingredient sourcing, or running only with ingredients you supply
• Filling and sealing in a specific format (pouches, bottles, jars, sachets)
• Packaging sourcing and label application
• Warehousing, freight and distribution after the run

Scale-up deserves special attention. Alberta’s co-packing guide points out that heating rates, agitation, holding time and pumping can make a plant batch behave differently from a kitchen batch, and a partner experienced in your category will catch those problems sooner. Still producing in a rented kitchen? Read commercial kitchen vs. co-packer: when to switch.

Step 2: Understand SFCR licensing

Under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations, licensing is based on activities, not business type. The CFIA requires a licence to manufacture, process, treat, preserve, grade, package or label food that is exported or sent across provincial or territorial borders, and to import food. Food made, packaged and sold within a single province doesn’t need a federal licence, although some provinces require one for certain commodities.

The detail that catches brands out: each business needs a licence for the activities it performs. In the CFIA’s shared-facility example, if facility staff process and package the food but the brand does the labelling, the facility needs a licence to process and package and the brand needs one to label. So if you plan to apply labels or stickers yourself before shipping out of province, check whether you need your own licence. Our article who needs an SFC licence when a brand and co-packer share the work walks through common scenarios, and the CFIA’s online licensing tool can confirm your situation. Before signing, ask a co-packer for its licence number and confirm which activities and food categories it covers.

Step 3: Ask about the preventive control plan

A preventive control plan (PCP) is a written document showing how hazards to your food are identified and controlled, and most licence holders must have one. The CFIA allows an exception for some businesses with gross annual food sales of $100,000 or less, but not for certain commodities (such as processed fruit or vegetable products, dairy, eggs, fish or meat) or businesses that request export certificates. Exempt businesses still have to meet preventive control requirements like sanitation and pest control. Ask a prospective partner how its PCP covers a product like yours: the hazards identified, monitoring and corrective actions, and the records kept.

Step 4: Work through a due-diligence checklist

1. Write your specification first: quantity, quality, container size and type, target cost per unit, ingredient and packaging specs, and testing requirements.
2. Shortlist by category fit: processors already making similar products, with the right equipment and spare capacity.
3. Visit the facility: check cleanliness and order, ask to see recent inspection reports, and meet the person responsible for quality.
4. Verify licensing and certifications: confirm the SFC licence, and if a retailer requires HACCP, SQF, organic or non-GMO, ask for the current certificate rather than relying on a website claim.
5. Ask about traceability: how a lot is defined and what lot code goes on your package.
6. Run a sample at their facility before signing a manufacturing contract.
7. Check references, ideally from clients of a similar size.
8. Sort out insurance and the contract: Manitoba’s guidance suggests asking to be named as an additional insured and having a lawyer review the agreement.

Step 5: Get the agreement in writing

At minimum, a co-packing agreement should cover who is responsible for ingredients, packaging, labelling, processing, testing and product approval; inventory and storage; pricing and payment terms; scheduling and delivery dates; record keeping; liability insurance; and confidentiality. Because a co-packer may also make competing products, a confidentiality or non-compete clause protecting your formula is worth discussing. Pricing structure is covered in our co-packing costs and MOQs guide.

Red flags

• Vague answers about who holds the licence for each activity
• No written PCP, or reluctance to discuss it
• No clear lot coding or traceability procedure
• Certifications claimed but no certificate provided on request
• Unwillingness to run a sample before you sign

Bringing the checklist to COPACK Canada

When you request a quote from COPACK Canada, the form asks which certificates you require (FDA, organic, non-GMO, CFIA, HACCP or SQF, or other), so put your retailers’ requirements up front and ask us how we meet them. Our co-packing process page explains how a project runs from consultation to delivery, and our FAQ covers private label, minimums and compliance support.

This guide is general information for Canadian food brands, not legal, regulatory or financial advice. Confirm your obligations with the CFIA and a qualified advisor.

Choosing a co-packer FAQ