FAQ & safety.
Everything about joining, orientation, the waiver, and how we keep a shared lab clean and safe.
Do I need experience to join?+
No. Spore Print membership and workshops are built for total beginners. If you can follow a cleaning checklist, you can learn sterile technique here.
What's the orientation?+
A short in-person session covering lab safety, sterile technique, and how booking works. Every lab-access member does it once before their first solo session.
Is there a liability waiver?+
Yes. Working in any lab carries risk. Before your first session you'll sign a liability waiver acknowledging safe-use rules, allergen exposure, and equipment handling. Our orientation follows Canadian workplace safety norms — including WHMIS-style hazard labelling for any chemicals on site and Ontario occupational health and safety practices. We'll walk you through all of it; nothing buried in fine print.
What can I grow here?+
Culinary and medicinal fungi, plus research and cultivation work. We don't support the cultivation of controlled or illegal species, and members agree to that in the waiver.
How does contamination policy work?+
Contamination is part of mycology, but a dirty bench affects everyone. Members clean their station, follow the flow-hood protocol, and flag any contam so we can isolate it. Repeat disregard for protocol ends lab access.
Can I resell supplies I buy at cost?+
No. At-cost materials — grain, substrate, agar, jars — are for your own growing and research, not for resale. You're welcome to sell kits or cultures you make with them; that's your work. Reselling the raw at-cost supplies isn't allowed. See our supply policy for the full terms, limits, and how large orders are handled.
Can I store my cultures?+
Mycelium tier and up get culture storage. There's a shared, catalogued library too — contribute a strain, borrow a strain.
How do day passes work?+
Book a day, come in, do a quick orientation with a member on duty, and use the lab. It's the no-commitment way to try the space before joining.
What if I can't afford membership?+
We have student and hardship rates on a pay-what-you-can basis, plus sponsored memberships funded by our Patron tier. Reach out — the process is private and low-friction.
How is Spore Symposium structured?+
We're a community lab run as a social enterprise — an incorporated Ontario company operating on an at-cost, mission-first basis. Supplies are sold at cost and membership funds equipment, rent, and access rather than profit. We're not a registered charity, so memberships and contributions aren't tax-deductible donations.
Our safety agreement.
Every member agrees to these before their first session. The full waiver is provided at orientation.
Complete orientation before solo lab use, and follow the sterile-technique, flow-hood, and WHMIS hazard-handling protocols.
Clean and reset your station every session. Flag contamination immediately.
Only cultivate legal, approved species. No controlled or illegal organisms.
Handle equipment as trained. Ask before using anything you're unsure about.
Respect shared space, shared supplies, and each other. Everyone's here to learn.
This is a plain-language summary, not the legal waiver itself. The signed waiver at orientation is the binding document. Spore Symposium isn't a substitute for professional lab certification, and members work at their own risk.
Still have a question?
Email us or join the founding list — we answer everything before you commit to anything.