City of Vaughan

The Chef Upstairs has made the decision to commit to contributing business practices and activities that respond to the Sustainable Development Goals as issued by the United Nations. The following is a list of the 17 goals outlined by the UN, and how we plan to commit practices that best meet those goals.

On May 24, 2025, we plan to hold the event “Get Fed Up” in support of the Food Bank. We will be preparing 3,000 meals on site for this annual event. We also commit to similar monthly fund-raising events for the red Door Shelter and Autism Ontario. As well, we pay all our staff above minimum wage and above industry standards.

In addition to our Get Fed Up program, we teach cooking skills and best nutrition practices so people can learn how to provide economically affordable and healthy meals for themselves. We have zero food waste and provide food for all our staff.

We promote healthy eating habits and teach how to shop for groceries to promote good health. We provide a cooking camp for children. We provide a full health and dental plans for our staff. We test regularly for pests and have always received a Green Pass certificate from city health inspectors. We commit to following city health regulations. Many of our educational programs include lessons in health for hair care, nutrition, hygiene, self-care, and the care for the environment to promote overall well-being.

As a teaching facility, quality education is our stock and trade. We follow school board curriculum for children and teenagers in all courses such as math, science, and geography. We provide field trips bringing our educators to child care centres and private schools. For charities, we make our educational programs accessible with special pricing. In the future, we plan to expand our educational programs internationally.

Within our company, both genders are equally represented at 50-50. Among the chefs, it is 60 – 40 male to female; and for staff, it is 60 – 40 female to male for an overall balance of 50 – 50.

We not only offer free, clean drinking water for our staff and customers but also provide drain stoppers in all our kitchen sinks. We diligently follow all health code regulations for washing hands, food, and meat.

Regularly scheduled inspections of our washroom and kitchen facilities ensure continuous cleanliness and hygiene throughout our facilities.

To uphold water quality, regular cleaning procedures are in place, underscoring our commitment to maintaining high standards.

As part of our corporate commitment to achieving carbon neutrality, we use energy-efficient lighting and implementing light sensors and dimmer switches throughout our facilities.

To minimize energy consumption, our facilities convert used oil from restaurants to bio diesel through our partnership with Green Planet Biofuels.

Our 2,000-square-foot facility in Vaughan now hires 20 full-time and 30 part-time staff after beginning with two full-time and two part-time staff demonstrating our commitment economic growth in the community. We strive to hire youth workers and our Chef-in-Training program provides valuable employment opportunities for youth aged 13 and 14 years old, ages when most young people have difficulty finding jobs.

One of our innovative approaches is to involve our chefs in program development. One such education program – Pickling and Preserves – is an industry advancement in sustainability by instructing customers how to maximize the life of fruits and vegetables.

We are dedicated to diminishing inequalities by fostering inclusivity for individuals with disabilities. This commitment is reflected in the installation of access ramps to make our facilities more accessible.

We work with the On the Line Culinary program operated by Toronto District. School Board and place people in jobs through this program.

Our washrooms are wheelchair accessible. This approach underscores our commitment to inclusivity and ensuring that our community activities are accessible to everyone.

We participate in all of Vaughan’s sustainable city programs and we take care of all organic waste disposal and recycling out of pocket. We will continue to commit to this sustainable service at a cost of approximately $400 per month. We also support our community with a partnership with Dreamz Connect, a program that places students in valuable volunteer and internship positions.

We actively promote responsible consumption and production through our sustainable practices of responsible disposal working with partners Green Planet and Waste Management. We control our energy consumption through thermostat regulation with an app known as Resideo. Our refrigerators and freezers have sensors to regular energy use as well.

To further minimize environmental impact, we discourage the use of plastics. Instead, we strongly advocate for the use of reusable bottles.

We commit to promoting climate action for groups and organizations that align with our educational programs through our social media and website presences online. Furthermore, we pledge our support to climate action groups and programs. Especially on earth Day. In our educations programs we explain the Greenhouse Gas contributions made by animals we raise for meat and direct our customers to more vegetable alternatives.

We are dedicated to reducing the impact of plastic waste from our community on rivers, lakes, and oceans. Our ultimate goal is to transition exclusively to sustainably produced alternatives. To achieve this, we only purchase locally caught fish and use fish bones for stock rendering zero waste for our fish use.

We also a turtle conservation program in Florida through our “adoption” of a turtle named Henrietta.

We are committed to recycling and have set the objective of using only environmentally-friendly materials whenever possible. To reduce our paper consumption, we are actively planning to transition to a 100% digital approach.

We have a grow garden in our facility and use no chemical pesticides on our plants.

Furthermore, we plan to actively support tree-planting initiatives made by the City of Vaughan and other organizations in our community.

To ensure the safety of our staff and customers, our facility is equipped with extensive security measures, including surveillance cameras and alarm systems. Our staff are always supervised as night and no-one walks to their car alone. We host regular charity events klnown as “Abuse Hurts” in partnership with the Red Door Shelter to support women and children affected by domestic abuse.

We are dedicated to partnering with groups, organizations, and suppliers who share our commitment to sustainable business practices. We also commit to volunteering our time for programs run by partners who initiate activities that support the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Through these collaborations, we aim to advance our commitment to adhering to all of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, reinforcing our dedication to sustainability and making a positive impact in various aspects of our community and beyond.