Most warehouses in Greater Montréal need light cleaning every shift (trash, spills, dock and walkway sweeping), a machine scrub of the main traffic aisles weekly, and a deeper monthly and seasonal round that covers racking, high surfaces, dock pits and equipment areas. The right frequency depends less on square footage than on how many pallets move through the building each day, what you store, and how much winter slush comes in through the dock doors.
Here is a practical schedule you can adapt, and the points that usually get missed in October and November, when peak season and the first snow land on the same weeks.
What drives cleaning frequency in a warehouse
Two buildings of the same size can need very different programs. The variables that matter:
- Throughput. A cross-dock running two shifts with constant forklift traffic sheds far more tire dust, stretch wrap and cardboard than a slow storage facility.
- Product type. Food and pharmaceutical storage brings stricter sanitation expectations from customers and auditors. Paper, cardboard and some powders create dust that settles on racking and light fixtures.
- Floor type. Sealed or polished concrete and epoxy are easier to keep clean than bare, dusting concrete, which releases fine particles every time a wheel passes.
- Door count and season. Every dock door is an entry point for leaves, grit and, from November to April, salt and slush from trucks and yard equipment.
- Occupancy. Lunchrooms, washrooms and offices inside the warehouse follow office logic: they need attention every day, whatever happens on the floor.
Daily and per shift tasks
These keep the building safe and stop dirt from spreading:
- Empty garbage and recycling at stations, offices and break areas. Flatten and bale cardboard if you have a baler.
- Sweep or dust mop pedestrian walkways, the shipping and receiving zones and the area inside each active dock door.
- Clean up spills right away, especially oil, hydraulic fluid and anything near battery charging stations.
- Clean and restock washrooms and the lunchroom: toilets, sinks, counters, microwaves, tables, floors.
- Spot clean office floors and touch points (door handles, time clocks, shared terminals).
- Pick up stray stretch wrap, strapping and pallet debris in aisles. Loose wrap is a slip hazard and it wraps around forklift axles.
Weekly tasks
- Ride-on or walk-behind auto scrubbing of main traffic aisles, staging lanes and dock areas. High throughput sites often scrub these two or three times a week.
- Dust mop or sweep secondary aisles and low traffic storage zones.
- Clean dock levelers and the floor directly under them, where debris collects.
- Wipe forklift and pallet jack charging areas and check for acid residue around battery stations.
- Deep clean washrooms (walls, partitions, drains) and the lunchroom fridge.
- Wash entrance glass and the office side of the building.
Monthly tasks
- Dust the lower and middle levels of racking and the top of stored goods where dust is visible.
- Clean around machinery, conveyors and balers, following your lockout procedure when equipment has to be stopped.
- Degrease heavily soiled areas: maintenance bays, under equipment, around fuel or propane cylinder storage.
- Clean office carpets with a low moisture method and machine scrub hard office floors.
- Check and clean floor drains, trench drains and catch basins inside the building.
Quarterly, semi-annual and annual tasks
- High dusting of beams, ductwork, light fixtures, sprinkler lines and the top of racking. Settled dust above head height falls onto product and, for some materials, adds to the fire load. Many sites do this two to four times a year.
- Pressure wash or deep scrub dock pits and exterior dock aprons.
- Strip and refinish resilient floors in offices and break rooms, or scrub and recoat sealed concrete where there is a coating.
- Wash interior walls and doors in high contact zones.
- Clean high windows and skylights.
What to change before peak season and winter
In Greater Montréal, the fall is the right time to reset the building for the hardest months.
Before peak season (October to December). Volume and temporary staff go up, and so does debris. Add a second daily sweep of the shipping zone, put extra garbage and cardboard collection points near packing stations, and schedule the quarterly high dusting before the rush, not during it. Lifts and scissor platforms in the aisles at the busiest time of year are a safety problem.
Before salt season (November). Salt and calcium chloride carried in by trucks, yard tractors and boots leave a white film on concrete that becomes slippery when wet and etches sealed or polished floors over time. Plan for:
- Heavy duty matting at personnel doors and a defined wet zone inside each active dock.
- Daily scrubbing of dock zones with a neutralizing cleaner from the first snow, instead of weekly.
- Squeegees and absorbent supplies at every dock for slush on bad days.
- A scrub and recoat of coated floors in October, so the coating, not the concrete, takes the winter wear.
Health and safety obligations to keep in mind
In Québec, warehouse housekeeping is tied to workplace health and safety. Under the Act respecting occupational health and safety and its regulation (the RSST), employers must keep workplaces clean, keep aisles and exits clear, and control hazards such as slippery floors and accumulated dust. CNESST inspectors look at these things during visits, and slips and falls are among the most common workplace injuries in warehousing.
If your cleaning contractor's crew works in your building, ask whether the company is registered with the CNESST and what insurance it carries. A contractor that is not registered can leave the site owner exposed if a worker is hurt. Food and pharmaceutical storage may also be subject to customer audits or certification schemes that set their own sanitation records, so the cleaning log should match what your auditors expect.
How to write this into a contract
A warehouse cleaning scope works best as a frequency table, area by area: walkways, aisles, docks, racking, offices, washrooms, lunchroom, exterior. For each area, list the task, the method (sweep, auto scrub, degrease, high dust), the frequency, and the hours the crew can work around shifts. Add seasonal changes as their own line items so the November increase in dock scrubbing is priced from the start rather than negotiated in January.
Pricing for warehouse cleaning varies widely with square footage, how much of the building is open floor versus offices, the number of visits per week, and whether the contractor supplies the auto scrubber. Our pricing guide for Laval and the pricing calculator give a starting point for the office and washroom portion; the floor and high work are usually quoted after a walkthrough.
Simple Service handles industrial cleaning for warehouses, plants and distribution centres across Montréal, Laval, Longueuil, the Rive Nord and the Rive Sud. We carry $5M general liability insurance with a
Frequently asked questions
How often should warehouse floors be scrubbed?
Main traffic aisles, staging lanes and dock zones are usually machine scrubbed at least once a week, and two or three times a week in busy distribution centres. In winter, dock zones often move to daily scrubbing because salt and slush come in with every truck.
Who is responsible for warehouse cleanliness in Québec?
The employer is responsible for keeping the workplace clean and safe under Québec's occupational health and safety rules, even when the cleaning is outsourced. That is why the contract should spell out tasks and frequencies, and why the contractor's CNESST registration and insurance should be checked before work starts.
How often should racking and high areas be dusted?
Lower racking levels are often dusted monthly. High dusting of beams, lights, ductwork and the tops of racking is typically done two to four times a year, more often in buildings that store dusty products or run balers.
Can warehouse cleaning be done during operating hours?
Daily tasks like trash, washrooms and spot sweeping are usually done during shifts. Auto scrubbing of busy aisles, degreasing and high dusting are better scheduled between shifts, overnight or on weekends, so equipment and lifts are not working next to forklifts.
Get a warehouse cleaning scope
If you manage a warehouse or distribution centre in Greater Montréal and want a schedule built around your shifts and the winter months, send us your building details through our quote form. Include the approximate square footage, number of dock doors and shifts, and we will come back with a scope and a price.