Gig Chef Economy

The Government of Alberta is gathering input on the gig chef economy.

The government is considering options for modernizing food safety legislation, including how the gig chef economy could operate within Alberta.

The gig chef economy is a system where chefs may work in different kitchens for short periods, often through short-term contracts or freelance work. This may happen on short notice and even for a few hours at a time. Gig chefs might prepare, cook or serve food for catering, onsite dining, curbside pick up, or for sale at another location via online platforms.

Owners or operators of commercial kitchens provide the space for gig chefs to work by choosing to rent out their kitchen space when it is not otherwise being used. Gig chefs may share the same kitchen space.

The gig chef economy has its benefits – with owners/operators of commercial kitchens getting an extra source of income and with gig chefs having the chance to work out of different kitchens without having to spend money on their own commercial kitchen.

The Food Regulation, enforced by Alberta Health Services (AHS), lists the requirements for the safe handling of food that is intended for the public. The primary goal of the regulation is to protect the public from illnesses caused by food. Currently, some requirements within the Food Regulation pose potential barriers to the gig chef economy as they slow down timely access to rentable commercial kitchen space. The Government of Alberta is considering changing or removing some of these requirements that may be considered duplicative or unnecessary – that may create “red tape” – for the gig chef economy without putting food safety at risk.

Your input in this survey will help inform policies related to the gig chef economy and Alberta’s public health legislation, regulations and policies related to food safety.

The survey takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete and closes April 13, 2025.

You may wish to create an account to save your progress, but this is not required to complete the survey.

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Your privacy is important

The views or opinions you provide, as well as the personal information about you, are protected by the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act. We are collecting this information to help inform decisions about policies related to the gig chef economy and Alberta’s public health legislation, regulations and policies related to food safety, as authorized by Section 33(c) of the FOIP Act. We will not use or disclose your personal information for any other purpose without your written consent or unless required to do so by law.

If you have questions about how we collect or use your information, contact the Director, Policy Coordination and Engagement at Alberta Health at 23rd floor, ATB Place North Tower, 10025 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB, T5J 1V1, by calling 780-427-4518 or emailing AH.PublicHealthEngagement@gov.ab.ca.

Please do not submit responses that include personal information about other people.