As communicated on December 11, 2020, the CanadaGAP manuals have been updated for 2021. Version 9.0 of the Fruit and Vegetable and Greenhouse Manuals are posted on the CanadaGAP website. A reminder that for certification purposes, the new manuals will take effect on April 1, 2021.

Additional Resources on the CanadaGAP Website

In addition to the documents published with the manuals in December, the following resources are also now available on the CanadaGAP website:

  • Fillable PDF versions of the CanadaGAP manuals (Version 9.0)
  • Spanish versions of the CanadaGAP manuals (Version 9.0)
  • PowerPoint presentation on the main changes for 2021
  • PowerPoint presentation on ‘How to Update your Manual’

How do I update my manual?

As part of the CanadaGAP program, you are required to go through and review/update your manual each year to meet the requirements found in Section 24. The release of Version 9.0 is the optimal time to go through your manual to review its currency and to update it with the 2021 changes.

The following resource material is available on the CanadaGAP website:

  • Outline of Main Changes to the CanadaGAP Manuals – overview of main changes for 2021
  • Revisions document – shows in detail all the changes from the previous version

There are a few ways to update your manual for 2021. You do NOT need to reprint the entire manual.

  1. Use the Outline of Main changes document to get an overview of the Determine which changes affect your operation (there may be few or none).
  2. When you have identified the changes that affect you, view the track changes revisions document, which provides the detailed wo
  3. Print off the necessary pages/sections (to have a formatted, clean copy, you should print from the PDF version without the tracking).
  4. Insert any new pages into your existing manual, showing you have completed (checked off) any new procedures relevant to your operation.
  5. It is wise to reprint the entire Glossary, or at least print/review any changes to definitions. The terms that have been redefined are listed in the Outline of Main changes Changes (usually clarifications) to terminology are important to understand, as they can impact how program requirements are met.
  6. On the title page of your manual, cross out the previous year’s version number/date and write in “Version 9.0 2021”, or print a new title page.

Note: if you choose to print the entire manual, ensure you print the clean, formatted PDF version from the CanadaGAP website.

Updating your CanadaGAP Forms

  • Some changes/forms may not be applicable to your operati Review the track changes document to determine if they pertain to you.
  • Start using the new versions of the Forms or update your record keeping templates to ensure the new information/fields are captured.

Updates to the fillable PDF versions

The fillable PDF versions of the CanadaGAP manuals were introduced last year and are available again for Version 9.0. These fillable PDFs allows operations to complete the manual electronically each year.

If you would like to complete your manual electronically each year, download this version and fill out each section as you normally would (including the confirmation log at the end of each section). Once completed, this fillable PDF can then be saved (or printed if necessary). Operations who completed Version 8.0 of the manual using the fillable PDF will have to download Version 9.0 to recomplete for 2021.

Please note this PDF does not include the record keeping forms, so, you will need to keep your records using another method (e.g., using electronic Excel version of the CanadaGAP forms available on the website).

Please direct any questions to info@canadagap.ca.

January 29th, 2021 at 03:41 pm