Frequently Asked Questions

Is Petit Lunch free for schools?

Yes — schools never pay to use Petit Lunch. The platform is free for schools and generates revenue from vendor and transaction fees instead.

Is Petit Lunch available in French?

Yes — Petit Lunch is fully bilingual (English/French), covering everything from parent-facing ordering to admin reporting.

How does Petit Lunch handle food allergies?

Allergies and dietary restrictions are set once on each child's profile, then checked automatically against every menu item at order time. If a meal conflicts with a listed allergy, checkout is blocked by an explicit warning the parent has to acknowledge — not just a small icon that's easy to miss.

Can one parent account manage multiple children?

Yes — a single account can hold multiple child profiles, each with its own school, class, and allergy information. A parent picks which child an order is for at the point of ordering.

What is the National School Food Program (NSFP), and does Petit Lunch help schools comply with it?

The NSFP put $1 billion in federal funding behind school meals starting in 2024, flowing through bilateral agreements with each province — expanded through each province's own existing program (e.g. BC's Feeding Futures, backed by $214 million in provincial investment; Ontario's Student Nutrition Program). Petit Lunch generates NSFP, Quebec, and Ontario-specific compliance reports, plus a general provincial report for other jurisdictions, with one-click CSV export built from live order and subsidy data.

Is school meal subsidy or hardship pricing private for families?

Yes — parents apply for hardship-based subsidy access entirely online, describing their situation privately rather than disclosing it in person. School staff review and approve applications digitally, with no classroom-visible signal indicating which students are receiving a subsidy.

Is school meal billing subject to GST/HST?

In most cases no — school meal sales are zero-rated under the Excise Tax Act, Schedule V, Part III, section 14. Petit Lunch applies this automatically to eligible vendor billing rather than requiring manual tax handling.

How do vendors get paid on Petit Lunch?

Vendors are paid through Stripe Connect, with payouts tied directly to fulfilled orders rather than a manual invoicing process.

Does listing a menu on Petit Lunch cost vendors anything?

No — vendor listing is zero-fee. Vendors reach parents and schools without paying to be listed on the platform.

Does Petit Lunch use AI for menu management?

Yes, for vendors — AI-driven menu tools provide smart suggestions, automatic allergen flagging, and seasonal optimization rather than requiring a vendor to manage every menu detail by hand.

Can parents track an order after it's placed?

Yes — every order moves through a visible status (placed, preparing, packed, out for delivery, delivered) with in-app and push notifications at each step, not just a single confirmation email.

Can schools import a class roster instead of adding students one by one?

Yes — school staff can bulk-import a class roster via CSV. Direct integrations with named Student Information Systems (e.g. PowerSchool, Aspen, Edsby) aren't available yet.

Which provinces does Petit Lunch support?

Petit Lunch supports vendors and schools across Canada, with province-specific compliance reporting already built for Quebec and Ontario, plus a general report format for every other province and territory.

What did schools use before a platform like Petit Lunch?

Most Canadian schools relied on paper order forms sent home, cash or cheques collected by staff, and orders tallied manually — a process prone to lost forms, uncollected payments, and allergy information kept in a binder rather than checked at the point of order.

Does Petit Lunch enforce order cutoff times automatically?

Yes — cutoff times are enforced automatically rather than relying on staff to manually close ordering, and recurring orders mean parents aren't re-ordering every week.

Who is Petit Lunch built for?

Three groups on one platform: parents placing and paying for orders, food vendors preparing and fulfilling them, and school staff coordinating delivery, tracking allergies, and reporting on participation — rather than three disconnected tools.