FOODSAFE Training in Thunder Bay
Food safety training is common knowledge for people who work in food handling facilities or establishments. According to the bylaw drafted by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in Ontario, all medium and high-risk food facilities are required to get a certain number of staff members trained and certified in food safety. Not all staff members need to become certified; the bylaw just requires the presence of a certified food handler at all times in the food facility. Additionally, the certified food handler has to have been trained and certified by a provider approved by the health authorities in Thunder Bay. Sign up Now for FOODSAFE in Thunder Bay.
Thunder Bay First Aid
Thunder Bay First Aid is one of the few providers in the city that have been approved by the health authorities to provider food safety training and certification to the public. You can enroll in classroom-based training or opt to self-study. The latter is made possible because we make our workbooks available to students who request them separately. After both kinds of training, you have to take a certification exam to get completely certified. For students who don’t want to become certified, they can simply opt out of the exam.
Basic training
Food handlers are only required to get basic training to get certified. It runs for eight hours over one or two days (depending the student’s choice). This program focuses on basics:
- Microbiology
- Foodborne illness (symptoms, pathogenesis)
- Personal hygiene and health
- Housekeeping and sanitation
Advanced training
Food handlers who have supervisory capacity (e.g. owners, managers) is the target audience for advanced training, which focuses mainly on management of food facilities. Management topics include work flow through the facility, training of staff members, and acquiring needed licenses for the facility to operate (among a long list of topics). This program is 16 hours long, completed in two days.
Getting certified
Certification is acquired by taking and passing the certification exam (held on a different day as training, since training usually takes an entire day). Students who take classroom-based food safety training no longer have to sign up for this, but students who self-study need to schedule their exam separately on a day they are available. After passing this exam, the student is awarded a training certificate that is valid for five years.
Requirements for renewing the training credential: taking a refresher class and another certification exam.
Enrollment
Enrolling in either of our training courses is quite easy and hassle-free. Among our younger, tech-savvy students, online enrollment on the Thunder Bay website is the most popular. There is an online form available on the website that you can fill up any time you are free. You don’t have to download anything – the form is filled up online and submitted after simply clicking a button.
Another option is enrollment in person – the second most popular choice since payment is typically made personally. You can contact us via e-mail or telephone call, but expect to be entertained during business hours only (8 AM to 5 PM).