How to check a restaurant's health inspection in Vancouver

Restaurants in Metro Vancouver are inspected by public health officers, and the results are published online. Most diners never look, and most never need to. But if you are curious about a place, or you have a reason to be careful, the reports are easy to find and easier to read than you might expect.

Who inspects restaurants in Vancouver?

In British Columbia, regional health authorities inspect food premises. Vancouver Coastal Health covers Vancouver, Richmond, the North Shore and several coastal communities. Fraser Health covers much of the rest of Metro Vancouver, including Burnaby, Surrey and other cities east and south of Vancouver. Both employ environmental health officers who inspect restaurants routinely and when they receive complaints.

How do you look up a restaurant inspection in Vancouver?

1. Work out which health authority covers the restaurant. Vancouver and Richmond are Vancouver Coastal Health; Burnaby and Surrey are Fraser Health.
2. Go to that health authority's inspection reports page. Each publishes reports online.
3. Search by the restaurant's name or address.
4. Open the most recent reports, and look at a few past ones too.

One report is a snapshot of one visit. Look at the pattern over several inspections before drawing conclusions.

How do you read a restaurant inspection report?

Reports list what the inspector saw on that visit. The key is telling minor issues from serious ones.

Usually minor	Usually more serious
Paperwork or records not up to date	Food held at unsafe temperatures
Small maintenance issues	Signs of pests
A missing thermometer	Poor handwashing or no handwashing station
Labels or storage containers not ideal	Raw and cooked food stored together unsafely
	Repeated problems over several inspections

Many reports also note whether a problem was corrected on the spot, which is a good sign.

What does a restaurant closure order mean?

If an inspector finds a health hazard that cannot be fixed straight away, a restaurant can be ordered to close until it is corrected. Health authorities publish closure information. A closure in a restaurant's past is not necessarily a reason to avoid it today; check what happened, whether it was fixed, and what recent inspections say.

Should you avoid a restaurant with violations?

Not automatically. Almost every busy kitchen gets some notes from an inspector at some point. What matters is:

• How serious the issues were, especially around temperature, pests and hygiene.
• Whether they were fixed, ideally on the spot.
• Whether the same problems keep coming back over several inspections.

A restaurant with a recent clean report and an older minor issue is generally fine. A pattern of serious, repeated problems is a reason to think twice.

What can you notice yourself as a diner?

You are not an inspector, but some things are worth noticing:

• Clean, working restrooms often reflect how much care goes into the rest of the place.
• Hot food that is hot and cold food that is cold.
• Staff handling food and money carefully.
• How a kitchen responds to a question about allergies or how something was cooked.

Do food trucks and markets get inspected in Vancouver?

Yes. Food trucks, market stalls and other mobile or temporary food vendors need health approvals too, and are inspected by the regional health authority. Their reports can usually be searched the same way as restaurants'. Because their kitchens are small, temperature control and handwashing are especially important, so those are good things to look for in a report.

How often are restaurants inspected in Vancouver?

There is no single fixed schedule. Inspections happen routinely, with the frequency usually based on the type of food served and the risk involved, and also in response to complaints. A place serving raw seafood or complex cooked dishes may be visited more often than a café selling packaged snacks. So a restaurant with many reports is not necessarily a problem; it may just be a higher-risk kind of kitchen.

How do you report a food safety concern in Vancouver?

If you think you got sick from a restaurant, or saw something seriously unsafe, contact the health authority that covers the area. They investigate complaints, and your report can help other diners. Note the date, what you ate and any symptoms.

Do other Canadian cities publish inspection results?

Yes. Toronto runs DineSafe, which publishes results and requires restaurants to display an inspection notice. Many other Canadian cities and health regions publish reports online too.

Mosey is built around ratings from people who actually ate somewhere. Inspection reports cover hygiene, not flavour, and the two together give you a fuller picture of a place.

More guides to read next:

• Holiday dining in Vancouver: the Christmas Market, festive menus and booking tips
• Patio season in Vancouver: how to find a good patio and get a seat
• Indian food in Vancouver: a guide to the Punjabi Market area

More in the Canadian food guides and the ranked lists of places.