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Quebec Health Inspection Readiness Check

Food inspection in Quebec belongs to MAPAQ, the provincial agriculture and food ministry. On the island of Montréal, the city's food inspectors do the work on MAPAQ's behalf. Both apply the same rulebook, the Regulation respecting food, which covers everything from cold holding to who in your kitchen must be trained in food hygiene and safety.

This check asks about the basics an inspector looks at in any kitchen, then about Quebec's training rules for managers and food handlers and the training register that goes with them. When you finish, you'll see your score and the gaps to work on first.

Check your kitchen

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

Which describes you?
Have you named a person responsible for food hygiene and safety who holds the MAPAQ food establishment manager certificate?

It can be the owner or a trusted employee. The manager certificate comes from the 12-hour course, not the shorter food handler course.

Is the responsible manager, or another employee with a manager or food handler certificate, on site during all operating hours?

Quebec also accepts a second option: at least 10% of the staff who prepare food or wash equipment hold a certificate, and then no one has to be on site. Answer yes if you meet either.

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?
Do you keep a training register at the establishment, with your certified staff, the responsible manager and how many people prepare food or wash equipment?

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 Quebec check

Is my score an official MAPAQ result?

No. It's a self-check you fill in yourself. Only an inspection by MAPAQ, or by the City of Montréal on the island, gives an official result.

Does a certified person have to be in the kitchen at all times?

Only under the first option. Quebec lets you keep the responsible manager or another certified employee on site during operating hours, or certify at least 10% of the staff who prepare food or wash equipment, in which case no one has to be on site. Under either option, the person responsible for food hygiene and safety must hold the manager certificate.

What comes in the email?

A full report with every gap, a plan for fixing each one, and links to printable checklists. You can also open those checklists in a free TenorOps account.