Inspection Information:

Food facilities are inspected to ensure compliance with the Food Regulation (Alberta Regulation 31/2006) under the Public Health Act.  Inspections help determine if standard practices are being followed with respect to a number of areas such as general food handling and storage, equipment cleaning and disinfection, facility sanitation and employee hygiene.

The requirement to post restaurant facility inspection reports is new as of July 1, 2008. The report itself is two parts, the first showing what areas are acceptable or not by separating it into critical and non critical violations.  Critical violations are those violations of the Food Regulation which, if left uncorrected, are more likely than other violations to directly contribute to food contamination or food-borne illness.  The second part is a written dialogue of the noted violations and actions required.

A restaurant comes under the definition of Food Service Establishment, which means:

A facility that primarily prepares individual food items selected by patrons from a menu and which are generally intended to be eaten on or about the premises.

Should you not be able to locate a particular food establishment it may be because it does not fall under this definition and so will not be placed on this website.

The information posted on this site is valid only at the time the inspection was made.  Correction of non-compliance items are to be completed as per the noted 5 or 10 workday week time frame unless otherwise noted.   Re-inspection reports will only address the items noted as not in compliance during the routine inspection. Reports will be posted as soon as possible following the inspection taking into account such factors as how late in the business week or prior to holidays the information is obtained.

Visitors to this site are cautioned against interpreting the status of a particular facility based on only one inspection. The first page must be read in conjunction with the second page. A box checked "No" under a certain category does NOT mean all items are deficient in that category. Rather, the "No" will only correspond to one (or more) specific notes on the second page only. It does not mean the facility is lacking in that area entirely. 

Inspection Frequencies:

The minimum number of times that a restaurant should be inspected per year is based on the relative level or degree of risk that is associated with a hazard assessment around the nature of food preparation, characteristics of population, volume of food produced, inherent food hazard and finally equipment and facility condition.

The frequencies are:

·         Not less than once every 4 months for high risk food establishments,

·         Not less than once every 6 months for medium risk food establishments,

·         Not less than once every 12 months for low risk food establishments, and

·         Additional inspections as necessary to ensure:

1.      Correction of non-compliance items with the food regulation,

2.      Investigation of food-borne illnesses and food-borne outbreaks,

3.      Investigation of consumer complaints, and

4.      Action on a food recall

Inspection Types:

Initial Approval: an inspection of a facility performed prior to its opening to determine if the facility is in a condition capable of being operated in compliance with applicable legislation,

Monitoring/Routine: an inspection of a facility performed at relatively consistent intervals and intended to determine compliance with applicable regulatory requirements,

Risk Management/Re-inspection: an inspection of a facility performed to determine if non-compliant conditions noted on a previous inspection have been corrected,

Special/Other:  an inspection of a facility performed for a very specific reason, e.g. a recall, that may require dedicated time, resources and expertise,

For more information visit the sites listed below:

Health Care Legislation in Alberta

Food Regulation

Food Retail & Food Services Code

Click on chef to view restaurant inspection reports by town