Blog · Cambridge
What Ontario's food premises regulation requires for pest control, and what the inspector will ask to see
For a restaurant on Hespeler Road or a kitchen in downtown Galt, pest control is not a matter of calling someone when a mouse shows up. It is written into Ontario's food premises regulation, and the paperwork is part of the requirement.
Last updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Cambridge Pest Control team
What the regulation actually says
Ontario Regulation 493/17, Food Premises, made under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, has a short section on pests. Section 13 says, in effect, two things:
- Every food premise must be protected against the entry of pests and kept free of conditions that lead to the harbouring or breeding of pests.
- Every operator must keep records of all pest control measures undertaken in the premise and keep those records for at least one year after they are made.
The province's reference document for the regulation explains that the operator is responsible for monitoring and control measures such as integrated pest management, and that the record requirement applies whether a pest control contractor is used or the operator does the monitoring. Section 12 adds that garbage and wastes, including liquid wastes, must be removed as often as necessary to keep the premise sanitary.
What a Region of Waterloo inspector looks for
Region of Waterloo Public Health inspects food premises across Cambridge, and its guidance for operators lists what is checked on pests. Inspectors look for no pest activity, for doors, windows, walls and ceilings that keep pests out, and for pest control records from the last 12 months available on site. On waste, the Region expects solid and liquid waste to be removed daily and kept in leak-proof, pest-proof containers with tight-fitting lids. Chemicals and pesticides must be labelled and stored away from food.
How often you are inspected depends on risk. The Region's inspection disclosure site, Check it! We inspect it, explains that high-risk premises such as full-service restaurants are inspected about once every four months, medium-risk premises such as a doughnut shop about every six months, and low-risk premises such as a convenience store about once a year. Posted results stay online for two years, and a closure order can be issued when a health hazard is found that cannot be corrected immediately.
What a useful pest control record contains
The regulation does not prescribe a form. A record that stands up to an inspection, and to a third-party food safety audit at a plant along the 401, usually includes:
- A site map with every trap and bait station numbered.
- The date and time of each service visit and the name of the technician.
- What was found at each device: activity, captures, bait taken, or nothing.
- Every product applied, where, and how much, with the product name and registration number.
- Recommendations to the operator, such as a door sweep to replace, a gap at a pipe penetration, or a sanitation issue behind the line, and the date each was fixed.
- Any pest sightings reported by staff between visits and the response.
The last two items are where many kitchens fall short. A record that shows the same gap under the back door flagged at six visits in a row tells an inspector that the problem was known and not fixed.
Where Cambridge food businesses tend to have trouble
- Older buildings in downtown Galt and Preston. Stone and brick walls, shared basements and old service chases give mice and cockroaches routes between businesses and apartments above.
- Plazas along Hespeler Road. Shared garbage enclosures and dumpsters draw rodents, and a neighbour's waste practices become your problem.
- Plants and warehouses near fields. Buildings backing onto farmland in north Hespeler and toward Blair see a jump in rodent pressure when crops come off in the fall.
- Deliveries. Cockroaches often arrive in cardboard and produce cases, which is why boxes should be broken down and taken out, not stored in the kitchen.
Signs to train staff to report
Toronto Public Health's guidance for food premises lists the signs worth teaching every cook and dishwasher:
- Cockroaches: live or dead insects, droppings that look like ground pepper, and egg cases.
- Mice: droppings, tracks, gnaw marks, rub marks along walls and damaged packaging.
- Rats: sightings, larger droppings, burrows outside, gnawing and worn pathways.
A sighting log by the back door, checked at every service visit, is a simple way to connect staff observations to the written record.
Pesticides in a food premise
Because inspectors check that chemicals and pesticides are labelled and stored away from food, the products used in a kitchen matter as much as the results. Baits in tamper-resistant stations, traps and monitors, and targeted crack-and-crevice applications keep product away from food contact surfaces. Every product applied should appear on the service record by name, so an inspector or auditor can see what was used, where, and when. Keep your own cleaning chemicals on a separate labelled shelf, away from the pest control records and away from food.
How a program is set up
A commercial pest control program starts with an inspection of the premises, the waste area and the building shell, followed by a device map, a visit schedule and a written record left on site after every visit. Rodent devices outside are paired with rodent exclusion on the building itself. Programs are priced monthly; see the Cambridge pest control cost guide. To arrange a walk-through, use the contact page.