Warehousing near you

Not every warehouse may hold every product. For food, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency explains that licensing under the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations depends on the activities conducted rather than on the type of business. Its guidance states that you do not need a licence to store food for export or interprovincial trade, including storing the food in a temperature controlled facility for the exclusive purpose of maintaining the condition and quality of the food. Where handling goes beyond preservation, the position changes: a licence is required to store and handle an edible meat product in its imported condition for the purpose of inspection, covering activities such as sampling, freezing, packaging, thawing, trimming or unpacking.

Dangerous goods bring a separate regime. The Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act defines handling to include loading, unloading, packing or unpacking dangerous goods in a means of containment for the purposes of, in the course of or following transportation, and expressly includes storing them in the course of transportation. Section 5 prohibits handling, offering for transport, transporting or importing dangerous goods unless the applicable safety requirements, safety marks, containment and documentation requirements are met. A warehouse holding such goods in the course of transportation is therefore inside that framework, not outside it.

Ask a prospective warehouse what it is permitted and equipped to store, and get the answer before your goods arrive. Provincial fire, building and occupational health rules apply on top of the federal requirements, and they vary by jurisdiction.

Most warehouse incidents involve powered equipment and the people around it. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety advises that forklift trucks should be operated only by experienced workers who are trained, certified or licensed to perform this task, and notes that some jurisdictions require a competent or authorized person to operate powered lift trucks. Its guidance for operators includes doing a visual and operational check of the forklift at the start of the shift, knowing the recommended load limit and never exceeding it, knowing the blind spots of the lift truck with and without a load, and always inspecting and wearing any seat belt or operator restraint device fitted to the truck.

Stock problems are quieter but just as costly. Counts drift when receipts are booked casually, when damaged goods are set aside without being recorded, or when returns are put back without inspection. Ask a prospective warehouse how often it counts, how it reports variances to you, and what it does when a count does not reconcile. A provider that volunteers its accuracy record is usually the one that measures it.

Storage is normally charged by pallet position or by floor area for a period, with separate handling charges for receiving and dispatch. That split matters: a business with slow-moving stock is mostly buying storage, while one with high throughput may find handling charges dominate. Temperature-controlled space, segregated areas for regulated goods and any special equipment carry their own charges, and minimum commitments are common. Ask how a month is counted, what happens when volumes fall below a minimum, and which activities sit outside the quoted charges entirely.

On LokalMatch you describe the goods, the volume, the conditions they need and the province you want them stored in, and warehousing providers in that area respond with their own proposals. LokalMatch does not store goods and takes no part in setting charges; providers pay for the requests they receive, so the business making the enquiry pays nothing. Visit the shortlisted sites before you commit: a warehouse is one of the few services where walking the floor tells you most of what you need to know.

Read the liability clause before the rate. Warehouse agreements commonly limit what the provider will pay for loss or damage, and that limit may bear little relation to the value of your stock. Establish whether the provider's cover applies to your goods at all, what your own insurer requires of a storage location, and who bears the risk for goods in transit between sites.

There is also the question of what happens if you fall behind on payment. Provincial law generally gives a person storing goods for payment rights against those goods: in Ontario, the Repair and Storage Liens Act regulates the retention of, and lien against, an article until payment of a debt. The details, including notice and sale procedures, differ between provinces, so treat the principle as general and get advice on the rules where your goods are actually held before a dispute arises.