The province says it has improved its restaurant inspection rate in Calgary since 2009. (CBC)The province has ramped up the number of restaurant inspections it performs per year in Calgary since a report showed officials were falling far short of their mandated quotas.

Regulations require that Alberta Health Services send inspectors to roughly 15,500 of the more than 85,000 food-serving businesses in Calgary.

But an investigation in 2009 by Alberta's Auditor General revealed that less than 40 per cent of that target was getting inspected in the city — the lowest completion rate in Alberta.

The province now has a 20-person team dedicated to the Calgary area, which has made a difference, according to Dr. Brent Friesen, who is in charge of environmental public health for AHS.

"So we've increased from about 1,100 to 1,200 inspections being done per month in the Calgary zone, to close to 2,000," he said.

"We feel that with 20 inspectors we should be able to meet about 80 per cent of the inspection target."

Officials plan to monitor the progress of the new team and decide by the fall if additional staff is needed to attain a 100-per cent inspection rate.