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Ontario Health Inspection Readiness Check

Every public health unit in Ontario inspects against the same regulation, O. Reg. 493/17. Whichever unit covers you, the inspector looks at the kitchen as it is when they walk in, asks who on shift has completed food handler training, and can tell you where to post the result.

The questions below cover the everyday food safety basics and three Ontario rules: certified staff during every hour you're open, posting your inspection result, and keeping purchase records for a year. Answer for an ordinary week, not your best one. Your score and the gaps to fix first appear as soon as you finish.

Check your kitchen

Turn on JavaScript to work through the questions one at a time and get your score.

Which describes you?
Is someone who has completed food handler training on the premises during every hour you're open?

A certified food handler or supervisor counts. The training must come from a public health unit or a program the Ministry of Health recognizes.

Do you check and write down fridge, freezer and hot-holding temperatures every day?

With a probe thermometer, at set times, on a log someone signs.

When you cool cooked food in bulk, do you check that it cools fast enough?

Soups, stocks, rice and braises cooled for the next day.

Is every handwashing sink stocked with soap and paper towels, and used only for handwashing?
Do staff know to report vomiting, diarrhea or other illness symptoms before a shift, and do you keep sick staff off food?
Do you test sanitizer strength and dishwasher temperatures or chemical levels?

Test strips for sanitizer buckets and sinks, and the dishwasher gauge or strips.

Do you follow a written cleaning schedule that staff sign off?
Is stored food covered, labelled and dated, with raw meat kept below ready-to-eat food?
Can staff tell a customer which menu items contain each priority allergen?

Canada's priority allergens are peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, wheat and triticale, soy, sesame, mustard, fish, crustaceans and molluscs (shellfish), and sulphites.

Do you check for signs of pests and keep a record of pest control visits?
Is your latest inspection result posted where the inspector asked you to post it?

In Toronto, this is the green, yellow or red DineSafe notice.

Do you keep food purchase records, such as supplier invoices, at the premises for at least a year?

How the score works

Each answer earns full, half or no credit. The 3 questions about things inspectors treat as a health hazard count three times as much as minor ones, and significant items count twice. Your score is the share of points you earned: 85 or more reads as inspection-ready, 60 to 84 as a few gaps to close, and below 60 as needs attention. A health-hazard question that isn't fully in place keeps the score out of the top band.

Gaps are listed by how many points they cost you, so the first one is where to start.

Questions about the Ontario check

Will this tell me how my public health unit would rate me?

No. It's an unofficial self-check. Only an inspection by your public health unit produces an official result.

Does every cook in Ontario need a food handler certificate?

No. Section 32 is about coverage: at least one food handler or supervisor who has completed food handler training must be on the premises during every hour you operate. Many kitchens certify more staff so early prep, breaks and late closes stay covered.

What's in the emailed report?

Every gap from your answers, a step-by-step plan for fixing each one, and links to printable checklists. You can also open those checklists in a free TenorOps account.