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Alberta.ca Account
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Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel

Improving food safety in Alberta's child care settings.

Overview

The Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel (review panel) examined food safety in kitchens that provide food in licensed child care facilities across Alberta and made recommendations on how to better protect children.

This work will help strengthen the food safety system and will be instrumental in preventing future outbreaks.

Status

  • Open

  • Results under review

  • Completed

    The review panel’s report was submitted to the Minister of Health (now Primary and Preventive Health Services) and the former Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade in June 2024. The responsibility for childcare in Alberta was moved to the Minister of Education and Childcare in May 2025.

Who is listening

Ministry of Primary and Preventative Health Services (previously the Ministry of Health)

Panel mandate

The Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel reviewed the Public Health Act, the Food Regulation, the Institutions Regulation, the Early Learning and Child Care Act and Early Learning and Child Care Regulation and any applicable standards, guidelines or operating procedures to improve food safety in licensed child care facilities.

The review panel’s work resulted in a final report that included 12 primary recommendations and 27 sub-recommendations for government to consider. The recommendations centered around 3 main themes:

  • fostering a culture of food safety that supports high quality, safe and healthy learning environments for children
  • public policy, legislation and inspection systems for food safety
  • system alignment and integration

Read the Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel Final Report.  

Input received

The review panel held a series of engagement activities to gather input from affected parents and families, affected child care providers, subject matter experts, organizations and associations, and the public. These activities included in-person and virtual roundtable discussions, a public engagement survey and opportunities for written submissions.

Next steps

Alberta’s government has completed an analysis of the recommendations made by the review panel and established a work plan to determine how recommendations in the report may be implemented. While there are recommendations that can be implemented right away, others will be phased in over time, including potential changes to legislation. Certain recommendations will also require further analysis and stakeholder engagement.

The following milestones mark the beginning of our work, which will continue in alignment with the work plan.

Milestones and activities

  • Legislative and regulatory changes

    • December 2024: Outside the scope of the review panel, Alberta’s government introduced amendments to the Meat Inspection Act to increase penalties for the illegal slaughter and sale of uninspected meat to protect consumers and support food safety.
       
    • April 2025: Alberta’s government introduced amendments to the Early Learning and Child Care Act to increase accountability and transparency, address workforce challenges and enhance health safety and quality in child care. These changes will address the review panel’s recommendation to clearly state that all facility-based licence holders must comply with applicable zoning, health and safety legislation, and enables the implementation of other recommendations.
      • Administrative penalties have also been added to the legislation to further increase accountability. These new authorities came into effect on September 30, 2025.
         

    • December 2025: Alberta’s government introduced amendments to the Public Health Act (PHA) and its regulations to modernize public health response, enhance accountability for food safety practices, streamline and ensure consistent enforcement mechanisms, and establish a dedicated Public Health Investigation Team. A new regulation under the PHA was introduced authorizing the Public Health Investigation Team to issue violation tickets and administrative penalties, providing more effective and flexible tools to address non-compliance.

      Amendments to the Food Regulation and Institutions Regulation introduced improvements to food safety oversight that will result in:

      • Greater transparency in how food establishments and licensed facility-based child care programs demonstrate compliance with food safety requirements.
      • Strengthened certification and training standards for relevant personnel.
      • Consolidation of food safety requirements into a single regulation to improve clarity, consistency, and ease of compliance.

      Amendments to the PHA and its regulations will come into force on January 1, 2027, providing a two-year transition period for operators to obtain the required food safety certification.

      The approved regulatory amendments are publicly available:

  • Operational changes

    • Alberta Health Services (AHS) has increased the frequency of inspections at child care facilities serving food over the past year and improved its methods for investigating and managing cases of Escherichia coli (E. coli).

  • Engagement

    • March 2025: Albertans were invited to complete an online survey on food safety in the context of the review panel’s recommendations.
    • March 2026: Members of the foodservice industry were invited to complete an online survey on the potential implementation of a food safety inspection grading system or a food safety culture excellence recognition program. 

Panel members

Review panel members included representation from the for-profit and not-for-profit child care sectors, food service industry and experts in food safety and in public health. The review panel members were:

  • Mr. Rick Hanson (Chair), former Chief of Police, Calgary Police Services
  • Dr. James Kellner, Pediatrician and Infectious Diseases Specialist, Alberta Children’s Hospital, and Professor, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
  • Dr. Lynn McMullen, Professor Emerita (retired), Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Science, University of Alberta
  • Ms. Leslie Echino, Owner and Operator, Annabelle’s Kitchen and Bar
  • Mr. Tyler Shapka, Owner, Hopscotch Child Care Ltd.
  • Ms. Shannon Doram, President and CEO, YMCA Calgary, Association Services

AHS outbreak investigation report

The AHS Outbreak Investigation Report reflects AHS' knowledge as of June 18, 2024, of the public health response to, and investigation of, the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak in Calgary Zone childcare facilities linked to a common kitchen. 

The outbreak was declared open September 4, 2023, and declared closed October 24, 2023.

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