Reporting an Unsanitary Restaurant to MAPAQ

You’re out at a restaurant, ready to dig into your meal and then you see it: a cockroach sitting in your plate. Your appetite has vanished. Suddenly, you’re questioning the restaurant’s hygiene and safety standards. To get to the bottom of it, you file a complaint with Quebec’s department of agriculture, fisheries and food, also known as the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ).

In addition to issuing restaurant permits, MAPAQ is in charge of making sure rules on health and safety are respected. Once a complaint is filed, an inspector may be sent to verify the premises. You can make a complaint for many reasons, including if:

• you see insects or rodents in the kitchen.
• you find a bone in your vegetarian dish.
• your meal tastes funny and you experience food poisoning a few hours later.
• despite informing the staff of your allergy, you are served a dish that triggers an allergic reaction.

Depending on the severity and nature of the violation, the restaurant can be fined between $250 and $100,000. They can also be forced to close temporarily. In more serious cases, it can go as far as losing their permit.

How to file a complaint?

To file a complaint about a restaurant, you can either call the department of agriculture, fisheries and food (MAPAQ) or fill out the form available on their website. You will need to share the restaurant’s information, the reasons for your complaint, and any supporting documents, like pictures of your meal. While you will have to identify yourself and give your contact information, your complaint will remain confidential.

There are strict conditions to follow for your complaint to be accepted. First off, you must have personally witnessed the incident for which you are filing a complaint. Rumours and situations you weren’t directly involved in aren’t enough. It’s important to note that you can only file a complaint with MAPAQ for restaurants located in Quebec.

If you experience food poisoning after eating at a restaurant, you have 30 days to file a complaint. For issues related to hygiene or other concerns that didn’t affect your health, you have 45 days to act.

You can’t file a complaint with MAPAQ if you’re already suing the restaurant. However, if you filed a complaint with MAPAQ first, you can then take legal action to sue the restaurant for damages.

Double-check before you book

Having doubts about the cleanliness of a restaurant? MAPAQ’s has a public registry (French only) of restaurants that were fined after an inspection. This registry includes:

• The name and contact information of the restaurants at fault.
• The date of the violation, the decision and the publication in the registry.
• The amount of the fine.
• The reason for the fine.

MAPAQ’s registry shows penalties for up to two years from the date of publication. It also mentions whether the restaurant has closed since the violation.