Frequently asked questions
How often is the data updated?
The cadence depends on the source authority. We re-ingest each public dataset on a daily-to-weekly schedule. Once a new inspection appears in the original portal, it usually shows up here within a few days to a week.
I saw a violation at a restaurant I just visited. What should I do?
If you got sick after eating somewhere, report it to the local public-health authority. That’s the same one whose records appear on the restaurant’s Pass or Fail page. For non-illness concerns, most authorities take complaints by phone or web form. A complaint may trigger an unscheduled inspection, depending on the authority and the severity of the concern.
Why isn’t my favourite restaurant listed?
A few possibilities. The city might not be covered yet; we expand gradually. The place might have opened recently and not been inspected. It might fall into a category the authority doesn’t inspect publicly, like catering-only operations in some jurisdictions. Check the spelling and try a partial name first; otherwise, email contact@passorfail.ca.
What does a conditional pass actually mean for me as a diner?
This applies to authorities that use the term “Conditional Pass,” most commonly the Ontario authorities other than London (which publishes violations without an overall outcome label). It means inspectors found at least one violation that wasn’t severe enough to close the place. The operator typically has a deadline to correct the issue, and an inspector returns to verify. A place with a long history of clean inspections plus one conditional reads differently from a place that keeps getting them. Other authorities use different vocabulary; see How It Works for a full breakdown.
Is Pass or Fail an official government site?
No. We’re an independent service. We aggregate the public records that Canadian health authorities publish. The authoritative record is always the originating authority’s, not ours.
Are inspections done the same way across Canada?
No. Each province sets its own food-safety regulations. Inspections are carried out by different kinds of public-health authorities depending on the province. Some are regional or municipal (like in Ontario), while others operate province-wide (like Alberta Health Services or the Saskatchewan Health Authority). That’s why the labels and reporting schemes vary so much. The How It Works page has a full breakdown.
What’s the difference between a critical and a non-critical violation?
Authorities that distinguish severity levels generally divide violations into critical and non-critical (or similar tiers). A critical violation has a direct connection to foodborne illness: improper temperatures, raw meat above ready-to-eat food, employees not washing their hands, a confirmed pest problem. A non-critical violation matters but isn’t an immediate danger: a chipped cutting board, a dusty storage shelf, faded signage. One critical usually carries more weight than several non-criticals.
Why does Québec only show convictions?
Québec doesn’t publish routine inspection results. MAPAQ (the Québec ministry of agriculture, fisheries, and food) inspects restaurants, but only court convictions under the Food Products Act (Loi sur les produits alimentaires, P-29) are part of the public record. Pass or Fail also aggregates Montréal’s own conviction dataset from the City’s open-data portal. A Québec restaurant page with no record means the operator hasn’t been convicted of a food-safety offence.
Can a restaurant get its records removed?
Generally, no. Health inspection records are public information published by public bodies, and Pass or Fail mirrors what each authority publishes. If an operator believes a record is factually wrong, the request needs to go to the originating health authority. For requests under privacy legislation (such as PIPEDA), email contact@passorfail.ca.
How do I correct an error in a record?
If a name, address, or other identifying detail is wrong on our page, email contact@passorfail.ca with the URL and a short description. We’ll cross-check against the source. If the source itself is wrong, only the originating health authority can fix it.
Why do some restaurants in BC and London show violations but no overall pass-or-fail label?
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), Interior Health (IHA), and Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) publish individual violations from each inspection but don’t assign a single pass-or-fail outcome to each visit. The restaurant page shows you the violations directly. A report with no listed violations means none were recorded that day.
Are food trucks and bakeries included?
It depends on the authority. Most include any premise that handles food for the public: restaurants, food trucks, bakeries, cafés, ice-cream shops, school cafeterias, and daycare kitchens. If a category is in the source dataset, we include it.
Still have a question? Email contact@passorfail.ca. For background on how inspection data works, see How Pass or Fail Works.