A cooling failure creates two separate tasks. One is arranging appliance repair. The other is deciding how to protect food now. The food-safety decision should be based on time, temperature, and official guidance, not on whether the refrigerator may be repairable.
Use the official Canadian temperature targets
Health Canada’s current food and drinking water safety in an emergency guidance says to set a refrigerator at or below 4°C and a freezer at or below -18°C. A thermometer is more reliable than touching a package or shelf.
The Public Health Agency of Canada also explains that bacteria can grow quickly in the range between 4°C and 60°C. Its general food-safety guidance says cold foods should remain at or below 4°C.
Record the timeline before opening doors
Write down:
- When power or cooling was first lost
- When the problem was first noticed
- Whether each door remained closed
- Refrigerator and freezer thermometer readings
- Whether the freezer was full or half-full
- Whether food still has ice crystals
If the failure time is unknown, do not invent a best-case timeline. Note that uncertainty and use the most cautious applicable official guidance.
What Health Canada says about closed appliances
According to Health Canada, an unopened refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours. A full freezer will keep food frozen for about 48 hours, while a half-full freezer will keep food frozen for about 24 hours. These timeframes depend on keeping the doors closed.
After an outage, Health Canada says food that still contains ice crystals or feels refrigerator-cold can be refrozen and should be cooked to safe internal temperatures. Consult the current government page for the complete guidance and any updates rather than treating a summary as a decision for every food.
Do not use smell or appearance as the test
Food can be unsafe without looking or smelling spoiled. Do not taste food to test it. Use measured temperature, known time, ice-crystal condition, and the current official guidance.
Be especially careful with perishable foods and with food intended for people at greater risk from foodborne illness. When the history is unclear or the official criteria are not met, discarding food is safer than guessing.
Safe actions while cooling is unavailable
- Keep doors closed. Group your decisions before opening a door instead of checking repeatedly.
- Use working cold storage. Health Canada suggests moving food to a friend or family member’s working refrigerator or freezer when a long outage is expected.
- Use a properly chilled cooler when appropriate. Keep food at or below the safe cold temperature and avoid cross-contamination.
- Keep raw foods contained. The federal general food-safety guidance recommends storing raw meat, poultry, fish, and seafood so juices cannot contact other food.
- Do not put frozen food outdoors. Health Canada warns that animals can contaminate it and sunlight can thaw it even in cold weather.
Appliance safety still applies: do not touch a wet plug or outlet, use a damaged cord, open an electrical panel, or stand on a wet floor while disconnecting equipment. If there is smoke, sparking, a burning smell, shock risk, or water reaching electricity, keep clear and address the hazard first. See Technical Safety BC’s electrical safety information.
What to tell the repair provider
The provider does not decide whether questionable food is safe, but the same timeline can help describe the appliance failure. Include:
- When cooling changed and whether there was a confirmed outage
- Temperature readings from each compartment and the time recorded
- Whether one compartment or both are affected
- Whether controls, lights, fans, or normal operating sounds changed
- Visible frost, water, condensation, or fault codes
- Brand, model number, and photos of the appliance label
Match the repair request to the main symptom
For rising temperatures, use the refrigerator not cooling guide. If heavy frost is the main observation, see the freezer icing-up guide. For water on the floor or inside the cabinet, follow the refrigerator leak guide. A new sound can be recorded using the refrigerator noise guide.
Request refrigerator or freezer help in Kelowna
After protecting food and documenting the appliance, submit the symptom through the Kelowna refrigerator and freezer repair page. The Kelowna appliance repair hub covers the broader request process and other appliance categories.