Latest news with #DineSafe
Toronto Star
02-08-2025
- Health
- Toronto Star
A glaring hole in the city's new landlord rating system creates a two-tiered system for renters
In look, colour scheme, and visual simplicity, the RentSafeTO signs approved last week by council, which will provide tenants with basic information about their landlord's standards, explicitly evoke one of Toronto's most successful public health programs — the DineSafe rating system for restaurants, introduced in the early 2000s during Mel Lastman's term as mayor. The proponents — councillors Josh Matlow and Chris Moise — said as much: 'As chair of the board of health, I have witnessed firsthand how the DineSafe program has built trust and had a positive impact,' Moise told CP24. 'When restaurants receive a yellow poster, their owners and managers are highly motivated to resolve issues and earn that green poster back.'
CTV News
25-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Toronto City Council votes to establish colour-coded ratings for apartment buildings
Toronto City Council has voted in favour of establishing a colour-coded system for apartment buildings in the hopes that it will hold landlords accountable and compel them to keep their building clean, safe and well-maintained. The motion put forward by Coun. Josh Matlow will see the system integrated into the city's RentSafeTO program, which ensures building owners and operators meet maintenance standards. The colour-coded system is modelled after the city's DineSafe program and would see green, yellow or red signs posted near the entrance of the building. Red is for serious health and safety violations, yellow for minor infractions and green means the building is in good repair. 'There are going to be signs rolling out over the next year in large, multi-residential buildings, where, if a landlord is doing a good job and they care about their tenants' well-being, they get a green sign. That's wonderful. They're doing a good job,' Matlow said. 'But if you're a landlord who only sees your tenants as a source of revenue, rather than people whose homes should be healthy and safe, yes, you're going to get a red sign.' He added that if the landlord won't make the fixes, the city will come in and do them and charge the landlord after. A similar motion failed under former mayor John Tory in 2020 as landlords claimed that the signs would stigmatize tenants. But Matlow and other councillors argued that the system will provide tenants and prospective renters critical information. 'They've got rats, they've got bedbugs, appliances that aren't working, mould that has been left there for years by Toronto's worst landlords,' Matlow said. 'Now, we do have very good landlords in this city, but what we're going to do is have RentSafe colour-coded signs.' The motion was backed by tenant advocate groups. In his motion, Matlow stated that the current RentSafe system provides little incentive for landlords to make timely repairs. 'There are buildings receiving scores of 70-80 per cent despite having cockroaches, mould, or appliances that don't work. This is confusing and even infuriating for many tenants. It says that either the city doesn't know what's happening in their building or, worse, doesn't care,' the motion read. Staff are directed to report back to council in 2026 on the program implementation plan. With files from Jermaine Wilson
Toronto Star
24-07-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
Toronto apartments to get colour-coded ratings to ‘shame' landlords of rundown buildings
Colour-coded signs that rank apartment buildings by how well landlords maintain the properties are coming to Toronto. City council on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favour of phasing in the signs — similar to those used in the city's DineSafe food safety program — by the end of July next year.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Yorkville restaurant dinged by Toronto health inspectors for multiple infractions
Two restaurants, including an Italian eatery in the heart of Yorkville, were served multiple infractions by Toronto health inspectors last week. Vaticano Ristorante, located at 25 Bellair St., received a conditional pass notice after getting hit with nine infractions — one crucial and eight significant violations — on Thursday, according to Toronto Public Health. The restaurant, which offers traditional Italian cuisine and has been described on TripAdvisor as a 'hidden gem,' remains open to the public. Vaticano's lone crucial violation was failing to protect food from contamination or adulteration. Most of its eight significant infractions were equipment-related such as the food equipment was not of sound and tight construction, the equipment used was not free from cracks in contact with food, failing to provide a thermometer in refrigeration equipment, and the mechanical equipment was not maintained to provide sufficient chemical solution rinse. Vaticano's utensils were 'not of readily cleanable form,' the hand-washing stations were not maintained with soap and paper towels, while the station was used for something 'other than for (the) hand-washing of employees.' The restaurant also failed to protect against the harbouring of pests. Meanwhile, Salma Café & Restaurant at 4 John St. in York, was slammed with a whopping 15 infractions on Wednesday — three crucial, seven significant, four minor and one 'other.' Like Vaticano, Salma, which serves African comfort food, also received a conditional pass notice and remains open to the public, according to Toronto Public Health. Its three crucial infractions were maintaining and storing potentially hazardous foods at internal temperature between 4C and 60C, and failing to protect food from contamination or adulteration. Its seven significant violations were failing to maintain hand-washing stations with hot and cold water, as well as soap and paper towels, and not equipping the sanitary facility with paper towels or a dryer. Salma also failed to provide a thermometer in refrigeration equipment, did not sanitize multi-service articles after use, failed to protect against the harbouring of pests, and did not maintain records of pest control measures taken. The establishment's four minor infractions were not protecting against the entry of pests, failing to ensure equipment surface were sanitized as necessary, not maintaining the food-handling room in sanitary condition, and keeping the food-handling room free from equipment not regularly used. As for its 'other' violation, Salma failed to ensure a food-handler or supervisor was present during all hours of operation. A detailed list of infractions at Toronto restaurants can be found on DineSafe. Popular Jamaican restaurant hit with 11 infractions from Toronto health inspectors Toronto health inspectors serve two popular restaurants with nine violations each Toronto bakery Commisso put on notice by health inspectors again
