Your health is important. CK Public Health works to protect the health of people in Chatham-Kent and to prevent the spread of disease. One of the ways we do this is by enforcing public health laws and regulations.

What We Do

Our team:

• Inspects places, such as restaurants, pools, salons and more, to make sure that best practices for food safety and infection control are followed 
• Inspects places where tobacco and e-cigarette products are sold to make sure that rules for marketing and sales of these products are followed
• Investigates all reported complaints and concerns to make sure public health standards are met and to prevent people from getting sick
• Investigates potential Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) lapses
• Enforces public health laws and regulations to prevent diseases

Public Health Laws and By-Laws

CK Public Health is responsible for enforcing public health laws and certain municipal by-laws. Provincial laws we enforce include:

• Health Protection and Promotion Act, 1990
  • Provides for the organization and delivery of public health programs and services, the prevention of the spread of disease and the promotion and protection of the health of the people of Ontario. This law gives CK Public Health the power to do inspections and investigations to protect health.
• Smoke-Free Ontario Act, 2017
  • Sets out rules for the sale, supply and promotion of tobacco products, e-cigarettes and cannabis products and restricts the use of these products in public places. 
• Healthy Menu Choices Act, 2015
  • Also called “healthy menu labelling legislation,” requires food-service establishments with 20 or more locations in Ontario to display calorie information for food items on menus to help people make healthy, informed decisions when dining out.
• Mandatory Blood Testing Act, 2006
  • Allows victims of crime, health professionals, first responders, people providing first aid and others named in the Act to apply to the medical officer of health to require a blood sample of another person to be tested if the person making the application was exposed to the blood or body fluids of the person they wish to be tested. 
• Immunization of School Pupils Act, 1990
  • Requires parents of children attending school to have their children immunized against certain diseases. The purpose of the Act is to increase the protection of the health of children against preventable diseases.

CK Public Health also enforces certain municipal by-laws, including:

• Chatham-Kent Standing Water By-law
  • Requires property owners to remove or treat standing water to prevent the growth of mosquito larvae. The purpose of the by-law is to prevent diseases spread by mosquitoes, such as West Nile Virus.
• Smoke-Free Chatham-Kent By-law
  • Sets out rules for smoking of tobacco or tobacco-like products in Chatham-Kent.

In addition, certain businesses may be required to have an inspection by CK Public Health under the Consolidated Business Licensing By-law.

Check it CK – Health Inspection Reports

CK Public Health regularly inspects certain establishments to make sure that public health standards are met and that best practices are in place to prevent people from getting sick. Places we inspect include:

• Restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores, fairs, special events and other places where food is prepared, stored, served or provided to the public
• Pools, hot tubs, splash pads and other recreational water facilities
• Salons, spas, barber shops, tattoo parlours and other places where personal services are provided
• Licensed child care centres
• Children’s recreational camps (e.g. overnight summer camps)
• Small drinking water systems

You can check our inspection reports on Check it CK.

Report a Concern

If you have questions or concerns, you can always contact CK Public Health. A public health inspector will follow up with you.