Sources of Law for Restaurant Businesses in Canada

This article discusses the various sources of law that restaurant businesses in Canada must comply with, including the Food and Drug Act, Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act, Employee Standard Act of British Columbia, Canadian Human Rights Act, and Pest Control Products Act. It explains the meaning of each law and why they are relevant to restaurant businesses. The article also emphasizes the importance of compliance with these laws to avoid legal penalties and negative publicity.

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Business Law

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I want to start my business rather than working for another corporation. I want to open
a new restaurant in Cranbrook (B.C.), Canada. In order to successfully run of my restaurant, I
have to comply with laws which govern the restaurant businesses in Canada. Following are
different sources of the law which apply to my restaurant business.
1. Food and Drug Act
This is a federal law in Canada which focuses on protecting food, cosmetics, therapeutics
and drugs which is implemented by the Parliament of Canada for governing production,
export, import, transport and sale of food, drugs, cosmetics and other products (British
Columbia, n.d.).
2. Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is a regulatory agency which is
implemented by the Ministry of Health to establish different policies and standards to
ensure that the safety and nutrition quality of food which is sold in Canada is high (Powell et
al., 2013).
3. Employee Standard Act of British Columbia
This is relevant legislation which is enacted the local government of British Columbia in
order to protect the rights of working people (WorkBC, 2018).
4. Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA)
This act prohibits any discrimination conducted by employers based on gender, age,
race, ethnicity or a number of other grounds. The act comes into force in 1985, and since
then many amendments have been made to the act to update it accordingly (Barnett,
Walker & Nicol, 2012).
5. Pest Control Products Act
This is a key act which is implemented by the government for human health and safety
by controlling the pests (Mason, Kabaluk, Spencer, & Gillespie, 2013).
The above-mentioned sources of law are relevant for restaurant businesses operating in
British Columbia to ensure that they maintained a standard for customer safety and did not

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breach employee rights. Following is the meaning of the law and why they are relevant to
my business.
Food and Drug Act: The restaurants which are operating in Cranbrook (B.C.), Canada
have to comply with these regulations to avoid legal penalties. Section 3 (1) of this act
prohibits advertising of any food, drug and cosmetic which is used by general public for
treatment, prevention or cure of any disease, abnormal physical state or disorder. In the
case of restaurants and other businesses, they are prohibited from selling any food under
section 4 (1) which is poisonous, harmful, unfit for human consumption, adulterated or
manufactured, prepared, packaged or stored in unsanitary conditions (Laws, n.d.).
Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act: The CFIA inspect services in three separate
federal government departments which include Health Canada, Fisheries and Oceans
Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Moreover, this agency is established in order
to consolidate the delivery of all federal food safety, plant health and animal health
regulatory programs. This act defines the power of the agency under section 14 (1) in which
it has given the power to form contracts and agreements with other departments or
agencies of the government of Canada or any other person or organisation in the name of
Her Majesty or its own name (Powell et al., 2013). This agency conducts inspection in
restaurants operating in the country to ensure that they comply with the standards issued
by this act to ensure the safety of the food and health of their customers.
Employee Standard Act of British Columbia: This act governs the operations of
restaurant businesses as well, and they provide provisions to things such as meal break,
parental leave, minimum wage and others (WorkBC, 2018). This act also protects employees
from discrimination in the workplace. As a restaurant owner, I have to evaluate the relevant
provisions of this act which apply on my business to ensure that I did not violate any
employee rights in order to avoid legal consequences. This is a relevant law in my industry
because effective compliance with employee standards leads to positive relationship with
them which are crucial for building strong relationships with customers because employees
are the ones who represent the restaurant, and they interact with customers.
Canadian Human Rights Act: Restaurants operating in the country have to comply with
these standards while dealing with their employees and customers. The restaurant owners

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cannot discriminate between their employees or treat them differently because it is their
basic right (Barnett, Walker & Nicol, 2012).
Pest Control Products Act: The restaurants operating in the country have to ensure that
they regularly control pests to ensure that their food is healthy for consumption by their
customers. Section 6 (1) of the act prohibits businesses from using any unregistered pest
control products to ensure the safety of individuals (Mason, Kabaluk, Spencer, & Gillespie,
2013). Compliance with this legislation is relevant because the restaurant could face
negative publicity if any pest is found which reduces the number of customers.

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References
Barnett, L., Walker, J., & Nicol, J. (2012). An examination of the duty to accommodate in the
Canadian human rights context. Ontario: Library of Parliament.
British Columbia. (n.d.). Food Safety Legislation. Retrieved from
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/keeping-bc-healthy-safe/food-safety/
food-safety-legislation
Laws. (n.d.). Food and Drugs Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-27). Retrieved from https://laws-
lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/f-27/
Mason, P. G., Kabaluk, J. T., Spencer, B., & Gillespie, D. R. (2013). Regulation of biological
control in Canada. Biological Control Programmes in Canada 2001–2012, 1-5.
Powell, D. A., Erdozain, S., Dodd, C., Costa, R., Morley, K., & Chapman, B. J. (2013). Audits
and inspections are never enough: A critique to enhance food safety. Food
Control, 30(2), 686-691.
WorkBC. (2018). Workplace Rights. Retrieved from https://www.workbc.ca/Employer-
Resources/Your-Workforce/Workplace-Rights.aspx