Manufacturing Facilities

• Overview
• Building Checklist
• Who to Contact
• Green Building

Overview

Efficiency is among the most important requirements for success in business. It should be built in to your facilities plan. You'll need to know about access to water, energy, waste, communications and transportation systems.

It is important that you get as much information as possible to determine the requirements of the applicable legislation, regulations and bylaws before beginning any construction project.

Building Checklist

The first step is to determine your building requirements. A good starting point is a Basic Plant Requirement Checklist.

Local municipalities are responsible for enforcing the Ontario Building Code. Your municipality may have bylaws that control the location of food processing operations, water and energy usage and waste disposal. You will need to check with them.

A list of municipalities and pertinent municipal bylaw information is available through the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.

Who to Contact

Investment Development Officers can help you find a site, connect you with programs and services, and act as an advocate.

Food Industry Competitiveness Branch
Telephone:
519-826-4190 or toll free in Ontario: 1-888-466-2372, ext 6-4190
E-mail:
invest@omafra.gov.on.ca

For a list of programs and services that can help, go to their Environment and Infrastructure page.

Information on the Ontario Building Code, and links to the:

• Canadian Construction Association, 
• Ontario Association of Architects, 
• Professional Engineers Association of Ontario and 
• Council of Ontario Contractors Association

can be found at the Service Ontario Construction Business Information Bundle.

Green Building

Green Building is the practice of:

• increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use and harvest energy, water, and materials, and
• reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal

For practical advices and useful resources and contact information, read the B.C. government’s Guide to Green Building Resources

The following three websites are gateways to additional information:

• The Canada Green Building Council promotes the design and construction of green buildings.
• The Green Building Information Council of Canada provides downloadable documents and Building Performance Assessment Tool.
• The Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement contains valuable information on energy conservation.

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is responsible for air, water, and land, and ecosystems, and has built a strong foundation of laws, regulations, standards, permits and approvals.