Become a Food Rescuer

FoodRescue.ca is available throughout Ontario and in British Columbia in the lower mainland and Vancouver Island. Any charity or not-for-profit can register to become rescuers.  We welcome promotion in your community to engage food businesses in donating surplus. (Because successful food recovery also needs food donors to register!)  Our team will be notified when any registration occurs and at any time you can use the contact us form to share ideas and ask for guidance.

Approved organizations can assign various Rescuers who are responsible for accepting food donations online. Rescuers could be:

These representatives should be the most knowledgeable about food program needs and facilities, in order to make appropriate decisions in a timely manner. (fridge/freezer capacities, transportation volumes, pickup convenience, etc.) 

Receipts will be emailed for any claimed donations.  These receipts can be forwarded to other staff or volunteers to pickup the donations on behalf of your organization.

Registered charities and not-for-profit organizations can apply to use FoodRescue.ca to access food donations. Social service groups with food programs can use rescued food to augment community initiatives, such as after school snacks for children and youth, meals for seniors and food for shelters and drop-in centres.

Ontario Donation of Food Act and the BC Food Donor Encouragement Act protect organizations from liability when donating food. Incorporated businesses and employees are not liable for damages resulting from the consumption of donated food.

Foodrescue.ca takes this assurance one step further by offering education to recipient organizations on safe food handling best practices to help everyone make the most effective food rescues possible.

We take food safety seriously and ask that food donors and recipient organizations comply with FoodRescue.ca’s donation and recovery guidelines.  All facilities need to be up-to-date with health inspections and food safe handling training for any food preparation.  

If you wish to redistribute food rescued via FoodRescue.ca to other organizations, you must have a food redistribution agreement in place with these organizations. This is to help protect your organization. An easy way to do this is to encourage these organizations to register with FoodRescue.ca and we can confirm that they follow health and safety practices.  Check in with the FoodRescue.ca team if you have any questions or would like a sample redistribution agreement.

Donations come in all shapes and sizes! Our goal is to ensure that no good food goes to unused, and so, we allow business the flexibility in making donations with whatever amount of surplus food they may have. 

As a rescuing organization, you have the flexibility to choose whether you would like to claim any donation, based on what is most appropriate and helpful for your programs.

Large donations are often too great for any one organization to manage.  We've suggested that Food Donors split up large donations, allowing a few different organizations to each rescue a portion, or that they get in touch with the us.

Tips to deciding what to rescue:

To ensure everyone’s safety, we cannot rescue:

Food businesses can offer perishable dairy, protein, and prepared foods, along with any other edible items, such as produce, baked goods, and fresh, frozen, or shelf-stable food products.  

To become a recipient of rescued food through FoodRescue.ca, register here. During the online registration, we will ask what your organization does and your capacity for storing various types of food.  We need to check that your facility has been health inspected within the last 18 months or that you follow the municipal and provincial requirements for safe food premises. We'll ask for a signing authority for your organization to agree to our Terms and Conditions for using FoodRescue.ca.  For more information, please download our Application Guide in the Resources section on this page.