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Restaurants and hospitalityCompliance for Ontario restaurants, cafes and bars
High turnover means the same paperwork over and over: policies signed, training done, a trained food handler on every shift. Here are the rules that apply to restaurants, and how Prodigy Suite handles them for each new hire.
How Prodigy Suite handles it
Join by QR code
New staff scan the poster in the back, sign up with their email, and get the handbook and their courses on their phone.
Training on their phones
WHMIS, health and safety awareness, violence and harassment, and accessible customer service, with certificates. New hires get them automatically.
Food handler certificates on file
Staff upload their certificate; it counts once you approve it, and the matrix shows who holds one.
Kitchen inspections
A ready-made kitchen checklist, or upload the one you use. Problems become tracked actions.
Burns, cuts and slips
Incidents logged with Ontario’s reporting steps and deadlines, including WSIB Form 7.
Every location on its own
A manager for each location sees only that location’s staff, sign-offs and reports.
- Food safety: at least one food handler or supervisor who has completed food handler training must be on the premises during every hour you’re operating (O. Reg. 493/17, s. 32).
- Tips: pay them by cash, cheque or direct deposit to an account the employee chooses. If you or the owners share in the tip pool, post the tip policy and keep it for 3 years.
- Health and safety: above 5 workers, written and posted health and safety, violence and harassment policies and a health and safety representative; WHMIS training for cleaning chemicals; a certified first aider on every shift.
- Pay: there’s no lower liquor server rate. Servers earn at least the general minimum wage, $17.95 an hour from October 1, 2026.
A trained food handler, every hour you’re open
Ontario’s food premises regulation requires every food service premise to have at least one food handler or supervisor on the premises who has completed food handler training, during every hour it operates (O. Reg. 493/17, s. 32). Your local public health unit can tell you which courses it accepts.
In Prodigy Suite, add food handler training as a course that asks for a copy of the certificate. Staff upload a photo, you approve it, and the training matrix shows who holds one.
Tips and tip pools
- Tips are paid by cash, cheque or direct deposit (including Interac e-Transfer). With direct deposit, the employee chooses the account.
- An employer can share in a tip pool only as a sole proprietor, partner, director or shareholder who regularly does substantially the same work as the employees in the pool.
- If the employer or an owner shares in the pool, the tip-sharing policy must be posted in at least one clearly visible place, and kept for 3 years after it stops being in effect.
Charging staff for uniforms is next: Bill 105 would ban it from January 1, 2027, if it passes. Follow it on the law changes page.
High turnover: the same steps for every new hire
Each new hire needs the basics within days: health and safety awareness training as soon as practicable, information on your violence and harassment policies, accessible customer service training, WHMIS before they handle cleaning chemicals, and a copy of the employment standards poster within 30 days. With 25 or more employees, they also get written information about the job before their first shift.
What every Ontario restaurant needs as an employer
Occupational health and safety policy
Required in writing, and posted, where more than 5 workers regularly work. Recommended below that.
What it must include
- A written statement of the employer's occupational health and safety policy
- A commitment to a program that puts the policy into practice
- A note that the policy is reviewed at least once a year
OHSA, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, s. 25(2)(j) and (4) · Official source
Workplace violence policy and program
Every employer needs a workplace violence policy and program. Once more than 5 workers regularly work at a workplace, the policy must be in writing and posted there.
What it must include
- A policy statement on workplace violence
- Measures and procedures to control the risks of violence identified in a risk assessment
- How to summon immediate assistance when violence occurs or is likely to occur
- How workers report incidents or threats of violence to the employer or supervisor
- How the employer will investigate and deal with incidents, complaints and threats of violence
OHSA, ss. 32.0.1–32.0.5 · Official source
Workplace harassment policy and program
Every employer needs a written workplace harassment program. Once more than 5 workers regularly work at a workplace, the policy must also be in writing and posted.
What it must include
- A policy statement on workplace harassment, including workplace sexual harassment
- Coverage of harassment that happens virtually or through technology (email, chat, social media), part of the definition since October 28, 2024
- How workers report incidents to the employer or supervisor, naming who to report to
- Someone else to report to if the employer or supervisor is the alleged harasser
- How incidents and complaints will be investigated and dealt with
- How information will be kept confidential, except where disclosure is needed to investigate, take corrective action or is required by law
- How the worker who complained and the alleged harasser will be told the results of the investigation and any corrective action
OHSA, s. 1(1) "workplace harassment"; ss. 32.0.1, 32.0.6, 32.0.7 · Official source
Health and safety representative or joint committee
A workplace with 6 to 19 workers regularly employed needs a health and safety representative chosen by the workers. At 20 or more, it needs a joint health and safety committee.
OHSA, ss. 8–9 · Official source
WHMIS training and safety data sheets (if workers handle hazardous products)
Any workplace where workers use, handle or are exposed to hazardous products (chemicals, cleaners, fuels and similar).
OHSA, ss. 37–42; R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 860 · Official source
First aid: a kit, a trained first aider and the Form 82 poster
Every employer covered by the WSIB: a first aid box, a certified first aider on every shift (Basic up to 5 workers on a shift, Intermediate above that), the Form 82 poster and a record of first aid given. From 200 on one shift, a first aid room.
R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 1101, ss. 1–3, 5, 6 and 8–11 · Official source
Basic health and safety awareness training
Every worker and supervisor, as soon as practicable after they start.
O. Reg. 297/13, ss. 1–2 · Official source
Accessible customer service policy
Every business with at least one employee in Ontario.
What it must include
- A policy on providing goods and services to people with disabilities
- The use of assistive devices, service animals and support persons
- Notice to the public of temporary disruptions to facilities or services people with disabilities rely on
- How people can give feedback about accessibility and how the business will respond
- Training staff on accessible customer service
O. Reg. 191/11 (Integrated Accessibility Standards), Part IV.2 · Official source
From the same rules the free audit checks, last reviewed October 13, 2026. See every requirement by size.
Common questions
Does an Ontario restaurant need a certified food handler on every shift?
Yes. At least one food handler or supervisor who has completed food handler training must be on the premises during every hour the restaurant is operating (O. Reg. 493/17, s. 32).
Can a restaurant owner share in the tip pool in Ontario?
Only an owner, partner, director or shareholder who regularly does substantially the same work as the employees in the pool. If they share in it, the tip-sharing policy must be posted in the workplace and kept for 3 years after it stops being in effect.
Is there a lower minimum wage for servers in Ontario?
No. There’s no separate liquor server rate; servers earn at least the general minimum wage, $17.95 an hour from October 1, 2026.
Can a restaurant charge staff for uniforms?
Bill 105 would ban charging employees for uniforms from January 1, 2027, but it had not passed as of October 25, 2026. We track it on the law changes page.
Sources
- e-Laws: O. Reg. 493/17, Food Premises, s. 32
- Ontario: Tips or other gratuities (updated July 8, 2024)
- Ontario: Minimum wage (updated September 28, 2026)
- OLA: Bill 105 status
- Ontario: Posters and materials required in the workplace
This page summarizes Ontario’s rules as of October 25, 2026 for general information. It isn’t legal advice, and Prodigy Suite isn’t a law firm. Each rule links to the official source; for a specific situation, speak to an Ontario employment lawyer.
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