What to Do After Failing a Health Inspection in Ontario

Your inspection result becomes public. Under Ontario Regulation 493/17, you must post the results at your premises as the inspector directs. Under the Food Safety Protocol, your health unit must publish a summary of each routine inspection online within two weeks and keep it there for two years. Your customers, competitors, and delivery platforms can find it.

Start correcting the infractions on the day of the inspection. If you are off site when the inspector returns, your staff still need to explain what changed. Assign each correction to someone on the team and keep the evidence where the next shift can find it.

What you received

Public health inspectors from your local health unit inspect food premises under the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) and O. Reg. 493/17. Your report identifies the infractions you need to correct.

Serious infractions typically mean a reinspection within days. If the inspector finds a health hazard, they may order you to close your premises. Follow the order's conditions for reopening. Your health unit can lay charges under the HPPA, and a court can fine you on conviction.

Critical versus significant infractions in Ontario

Critical and Significant come from different systems: Ontario Ministry guidance and Toronto's DineSafe program. The Ministry uses critical and non-critical. A critical infraction can pose an immediate risk to public health or lead to food-borne illness.

Toronto uses three DineSafe categories: Minor, Significant, and Crucial. A Significant infraction poses a potential health hazard. You must correct it immediately, and the inspector will return to check. A Crucial infraction poses an immediate health hazard. You must correct it immediately, and the inspector may close your premises.

Examples of Significant or Crucial infractions:

• Unsafe holding temperatures for potentially hazardous food
• Evidence of pest activity
• No handwashing station or soap at food prep areas
• Cross-contamination risks between raw and ready-to-eat foods
• Staff handling food without proper hygiene practices

The table shows how Toronto's inspection outcomes affect your next steps.

DineSafe outcome	Inspector response	Typical reinspection window	Public posting
Pass	No immediate follow-up required	Next scheduled cycle	Green placard posted at premises
Conditional Pass	Written order; Significant infractions found	24 to 48 hours in Toronto	Yellow placard until reinspection passes
Closed	Closure order; premises cannot operate	Reinspection before reopening permitted	Red placard; record visible on DineSafe site

Inspectors set the timelines under their health unit's procedures; other Ontario health units use different labels and windows.

Correct infractions before the reinspection

Toronto reinspects a Conditional Pass within 24 to 48 hours of the initial inspection, unless exceptional circumstances require longer. Read the report the day you receive it, and use the regulation sections it cites to check what each correction requires. Call your health unit about anything unclear.

If Significant infractions remain at the first reinspection, the inspector issues a ticket and returns for a second. Under DineSafe policy, the inspector issues a summons to court if the infractions remain at the second visit. Your health unit must publish follow-up results online, either in a new report or as an update to the original. Our failed food inspection cost briefing explains the ticket and public-record costs.

For temperature infractions, ask the inspector how to handle the affected food. Section 27 of the regulation sets holding limits for potentially hazardous food: 4°C or below, or 60°C or above. It allows up to two hours outside those limits for necessary preparation, processing, or manufacturing.

For a handwashing infraction, check the number, location, and supplies of your stations. A station needs soap, hot and cold running water, and a hand dryer or single-service towel dispenser.

Prepare evidence for reinspection

For each infraction, record what you corrected, when you corrected it, and who did the work. Add timestamped photos where they help show the correction. Keep these records with the inspection report so the person meeting the inspector can explain each change.

Choose records that address the infractions in your report. For a temperature problem, have the relevant temperature logs and repair records ready. For a cleaning problem, have the cleaning records and any revised schedule ready. Our Ontario food safety resources cover the logs you can use.

If the report cites section 32, check the staff schedule and the training records. Your food service premises must have at least one food handler or supervisor on site during every operating hour. That person must have completed food handler training. Section 3.1 of the regulation exempts certain premises handling only low-risk or pre-packaged food.

Brief the staff who will be on shift. Ask them to show you the corrected practice. Tell them who will check it each day and where to record the result.

Prevent the same infraction

Check the routine that allowed each infraction. If the opener switches on equipment without checking temperatures, add that check to their opening tasks. If staff overlook the cleaning schedule, assign each task to someone on the shift. Name a person to check the work when you are off site.

If you oversee several premises, ask each site manager to check for the same problem and keep the findings with that site's records.

How health units track repeat violations

Your health unit considers your compliance history when it assigns your annual risk category. The inspector uses results from the previous 12 months, where available, alongside the food you prepare and other factors in the Ministry's risk assessment guideline. Your total score determines your category, which sets how often inspectors must visit for routine inspections.

Keep the corrected practices in place after reinspection. A year without recorded infractions can lower your risk score. If your total moves into a lower category, inspectors need to make fewer routine visits. Assign the checks and record the results so each shift can show that the corrections have lasted.