Available now in 50 countries, following each country’s own food hygiene rules.

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Canada: for restaurants and takeaways

Ready for the food inspection. Every day.

In Canada the app follows the national Food Retail and Food Services Code (2016) and Health Canada’s safe temperatures, with each province’s own rules. Provincial and local health authorities inspect. Quebec comes later, in French.

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The Chef Hygiene app on a computer: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checksThe Chef Hygiene app on a phone: the home screen of a kitchen with its daily checks

Canada: food hygiene rules

Inspection body
Provincial and territorial governments and their health authorities (the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, CFIA, covers only food traded between provinces, imported or exported)
Public rating
No
Languages in the app
English

Your inspection

Provincial and territorial governments regulate restaurants, takeaways and cafés within their borders, and many provinces let municipal authorities enforce the rules locally. The CFIA licenses only businesses that import, export or trade food between provinces.

Rules and inspections differ by province. The national Food Retail and Food Services Code (2016) is a model code, not federal law: each province chooses whether to adopt it. Check your province’s food safety rules and your local health authority.

Hygiene rating

There is no national grade. Inspection results are public in most provinces, for example through Ontario’s boards of health, Toronto DineSafe, British Columbia’s health authorities, Alberta Health Services, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island.

“Law” is a binding rule. “Official guidance” is not law, but inspectors expect it. “Chef Hygiene default” is a value the app checks against where no rule gives a number.

Temperatures

  • Official guidanceKeep fridges at 4°C or lower and hot food at 60°C or higher (national code, with Ontario’s numbers).
  • LawManitoba: hazardous food must be kept at 5°C or lower (M.R. 339/88 R).
  • Official guidanceKeep freezers at −18°C or lower.
  • Official guidanceCooking, internal temperature (Health Canada): whole poultry 82°C; poultry pieces and ground poultry 74°C; egg dishes 74°C; shellfish 74°C.
  • Official guidanceCooking, internal temperature (Health Canada): ground meat 71°C; pork 71°C; fish 70°C; beef, veal and lamb steaks from 63°C (medium-rare) to 77°C (well done).
  • Official guidanceReheating: leftovers to 74°C (Health Canada). British Columbia: 74°C within 2 hours.
  • Official guidanceCooling: cooked food goes from 60°C to 20°C within 2 hours, then to 4°C within another 4 hours, 6 hours in total. Quebec: 60°C to 21°C in 2 hours, then to 4°C.
  • Official guidanceThe danger zone for bacteria is 4°C to 60°C, where they grow fastest.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultChef Hygiene checks chilled deliveries at 4°C or lower and frozen food at −15°C or lower. Manitoba: chilled at 5°C or lower.

Staff, training and health

  • Official guidanceProvinces ask for trained food handlers. Ontario: a trained person every hour of operation. Alberta: a certified person, and with 6 or more food handlers a certified manager or supervisor on site.
  • Official guidanceBritish Columbia: FOODSAFE for the operator, and a FOODSAFE holder present when the operator is away. Manitoba: a certified food handler, and one on duty at all times when more than 5 handlers work at once.
  • Official guidanceNova Scotia: the operator, and a trained person present when the operator is away, renewed every 5 years. Quebec: training for 10% of staff (manager course 12 hours, handler course 6 hours).

Allergens

  • Official guidanceHealth Canada lists 11 priority allergens: peanuts, tree nuts, sesame seeds, fish, crustaceans and molluscs, eggs, milk, soy, wheat and triticale, mustard and sulphites.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultThis list is for labels on prepackaged food. No federal law makes restaurants list these allergens on menus. Chef Hygiene uses the 11 for its allergen chart.

Fire safety checks

  • Official guidanceThe National Fire Code of Canada 2020 is the model code for the provinces. Kitchen hoods follow NFPA 96, and fire suppression systems follow NFPA 17A or NFPA 10.
  • Official guidanceFire protection equipment is inspected by a qualified person at least every 6 months. Portable extinguishers are looked over every month and fully serviced every year.
  • Official guidanceAutomatic fire suppression systems need supervisory monitoring, so an alarm sounds on a fault or when the system operates.
  • Official guidanceYour fire department and your province’s fire marshal or fire commissioner enforce the provincial fire code. Many restaurants also need a written fire safety plan approved by the fire department.
  • Chef Hygiene defaultChef Hygiene checks that the hood’s fire suppression system is inspected every 6 months. It also checks for a Class K extinguisher within 9 metres (30 feet) of the fryers.

Records

  • LawWHMIS 2015: employers must make sure hazardous products are labelled, keep the Safety Data Sheets (SDS) available to employees, and train workers. Suppliers provide the labels and SDS.

Official sources

Checked

This page is general information, not legal advice. Check with your local authority.

Canada: the Chef Hygiene app

The app loads these rules for your kitchen, checks your records against them and keeps proof for the inspector.

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