The Provincial Premises Registry Initiative and Premises Identification (PID) numbers
Learn how to register an Ontario agri-food land parcel in the provincial database and get assigned your unique identification number.
Overview
The Provincial Premises Registry Initiative (PPRI) is funding under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative.
The PPRI is a voluntary premises identification database used for emergency management and traceability purposes. It is the only official provincial registry for:
- registering parcels of land in Ontario where agri-food activities occur
- obtaining a Premises Identification Number (PID)
Premises information is securely collected, verified and stored in the database. Unique premises identification numbers are assigned to parcels of land in Ontario.
Premises Identification Number (PID)
Each premises registered in the PPRI will receive a PID. This unique number:
- identifies a parcel of land where agri-food activities occur
- references the specific agri-food activities that occur on that premises
PIDs differ from business registration numbers (for example Farm Business Registration, licenses or other business identifiers) because each PID is linked to a specific parcel of land rather than a business or person. The service provider assigns a unique PID to a premises once it has been verified against the PPRI.
Service provider
Agricorp, an agency of OMAFRA, is the service provider that delivers the PPR Initiative on behalf of the ministry.
How to register a premises and obtain a Premises Identification Number (PID)
Registering for a Premises Identification Number (PID) is quick, easy and free.
Eligible PID applicants
Agri-food business owners and operators (including tenants, lessees, or persons acting on behalf of an agri-food business operator owner with their consent) can apply for a PID at no cost.
Register for a PID
Premises can be registered online or by phone. Registration is secure and available in both English and French.
To register online, visit the Ontario PPRI website. When registering online, be sure to complete all required fields.
To register by phone, call
Required registration information
To register a premises, you will need both your Assessment Roll Number (ARN) and some additional contact information.
Assessment Roll Number (ARN)
The required premises location information for registration is the Assessment Roll Number (ARN).
The ARN can be found on the Property Assessment Notice (property tax) for the premises.
If the ARN cannot be provided, you will need to present either the:
- latitude and longitude coordinates from a global positioning system (GPS)
- municipal address of the premises to be registered
- Legal Land Description (the property information and details written on the deed to a property)
Additional contact information
Additional required information includes the:
- business contact's first and last names
- business address
- city
- postal code
- primary business telephone number
- business email (Note: required only if registering online)
- preferred language
- preferred method of communication
- premises type (for example farm, food processor, abattoir, veterinary clinic, etc.)
- agri-food activities that take place on the premises (for example dairy cattle, wheat, meat product manufacturing, etc.)
Consent statement
Registration in the PPRI is voluntary which means that consent by the registrant (such as an agri-food business owner or operator, or a person designated to register the premises on behalf of the owner) to the terms and conditions of the PPRI must be obtained before the premises can be registered.
Read the PPRI consent statement.
Receiving a PID and certificate
The information submitted during registration will be validated by Agricorp. Validation is the process of verifying the location of the characterized premises as corresponding to a single land parcel for the purposes of assigning a unique PID. This process ensures only one unique PID is assigned to a given premises.
Once validated, the premises will be assigned a unique PID. A certificate will then be sent to the registrant at the email or mailing address provided at the time of registration. This usually occurs within two business days after validation. The registrant may be contacted if any discrepancies or questions arise.
Registrant requirements
PPRI registrants are responsible for:
- reading and agreeing to the PPRI consent statement
- providing information related to the premises to obtain a PID
- updating or confirming their premises information at least every two years
Read the PPRI consent statement for complete details.
Update and confirm premises information
Each premises needs to be registered only once. If a premises is already registered, its PID remains valid and there is no need to register again. However, changes to existing premises activities or contact information must be communicated to the program so that the premises information can be updated as needed.
As a condition of registration, registrants are asked to confirm their premises information at least once every two years. This helps to ensure that the information in the PPRI remains up-to-date and accurate.
Updates
Updates to premises information may include changes in:
- ownership
- contact information
- agri-food activities that take place on the registered premises
Confirmation
Confirmation involves reviewing the business and agri-food activity information to confirm that it is still correct.
Inactive PIDs
PIDs that have not been updated or confirmed in the past two years may be set to inactive. An active PID is required when applying to some funding programs.
Contact Information
To update or confirm premises information online, visit the Ontario PPRI website.
To update or confirm premises information by phone, call
Emergency management
The PPRI consent statement outlines the purpose and specific uses of the business information being collected. Read the PPRI consent statement for complete details.
High-quality location information assists in emergency management efforts in case of natural disasters and plant and/or animal disease outbreaks by improving emergency preparedness, responsiveness and risk management.
Rapid identification of agri-food premises through an accurate and current PPRI provides an effective means to isolate and control hazards and outbreaks and establish proactive monitoring, control and support measures throughout an incident or emergency. Premises identification is an important part of modern and effective approaches to addressing threats to animal health, plant health, food safety and public health and safety.
Traceability
Premises identification is one of the three key pillars of traceability. The other two pillars are animal/product identification and movement recording/reporting.
Animal/product identification is the ability to distinguish individual animals or products on your premises, for example with a unique identifier like an ear tag or a bar code.
Movement recording/reporting ties together premises identification and animal/product identification to show when, where and how many/much of your animals/product moved, between premises along a supply chain.
Definitions
Agri-Food refers to the integrated complex chain that includes primary agriculture and inputs, food and beverage processing, distribution, transportation, wholesale and retail of food, food services and consumers.
An Assessment Roll Number (ARN) is a 15, 19 or 20-digit number assigned by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) to an assessable property for identification purposes. The roll number can be found on the Property Assessment Notice (property tax) for the premises.
Emergency Management refers to the organized and comprehensive programs and activities undertaken to deal with actual or potential emergencies or disasters. Its four components are:
- Mitigation/Prevention — actions taken to reduce or eliminate the effects of an emergency, or the actions taken to prevent the emergency itself.
- Preparedness — measures taken prior to the emergency or disaster to ensure an effective response.
- Response — measures taken to respond to an emergency to ensure that a controlled, coordinated and effective response is quickly undertaken.
- Recovery — measures taken to recover from an emergency or disaster.
A global positioning system (GPS) is a system that is used to capture and transmit location information (geographical coordinates) of a single point on the Earth's surface using satellite navigation systems.
Guidelines are any written documents, in print of electronic form, setting out the criteria governing the operation of the PPR Initiative and posted on the PPR Initiative website.
The Legal Land Description refers to property information and details written on the deed to a property that defines the parcel of land by referencing a survey plan or land use plan. This may include the parcel number (and section, if any), property identifier (if any) and a reference to the local municipality, lot, part lot, concession or other unit on the plan.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) is the crown corporation of the Government of Ontario that determines and classifies the assessed value for all properties across the province of Ontario under the Assessment Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. A.31.
A parcel is an area of land as defined for ownership or property taxation calculation (assessment) purposes that is required for land registration.
A premises is a parcel of land within the province of Ontario defined by a Legal Land Description (or, in its absence, by geographical coordinates).
Premises Information refers to the premises records contained in the PPRI. Records contain, at a minimum, the information required by the province and will consist of data fields as described in the National Traceability Standards that are used to register and characterize a premises for emergency management purposes. Premises records include:
- Legal Land Description, or geo-reference coordinates in its absence
- business information (for example business name, business address, business phone number, business email)
- premises type (for example farm, abattoir, etc.)
- agricultural activities taking place on the premises (such as agri-food based products, inputs or food that is grown, kept, assembled or disposed of)
Provincial Premises Registry Initiative (PPRI) is the database where a record of agricultural activities on various premises are identified, recorded and maintained.
A registrant is a person that has registered a premises in the PPRI and has been assigned a PID for the property and certificate.
A registration is the process of entering premises information into the PPRI by registrants in order to receive a PID.
Authority for the Provincial Premises Registry Program
Minister’s Order 0005/2023
Ontario's Provincial Premises Registry Initiative (PPRI) is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and operates under the authority of Minister’s Order 0005/2023.
Read Minister's Order 0005/2023.
The details on this page are subject to change. In the event of a conflict between the information provided here and Minister’s Order 0005/2023, the Minister’s Order will prevail.