Restaurants have seen a boost in dining and traffic over the past month coinciding with the GST and HST holiday, according to new data by Restaurants Canada and OpenTable.
From December 14 to 27, data from OpenTable, a global leader in restaurant tech, shows an 18 per cent increase in dining compared to the corresponding period in 2023. Ontario saw a 23 per cent increase year-over-year, while Atlantic provinces (NB, NL, NS, PE) saw an increase of 8 per cent year-over-year, said the organization in a news release on Friday.
It said this aligns with new data from Restaurants Canada’s REACT Survey, which noted a 7-point increase between December 2024 (92.1) and December 2023 (85.1) to its Consumer Dining Index. The Consumer Dining Index is calculated as a weighted average of the number of times Canadians purchased a meal or snack from a restaurant in the past month, indexed to July 2023. The December 2024 index also captures the two weeks before the tax holiday.
“Seeing Canadians embrace the tax relief and treat themselves to a meal out is really encouraging, especially as we navigate a climate of economic uncertainty,” said Kelly Higginson, President and CEO at Restaurants Canada. “More sales also mean more hours for our nearly 1.2 million workers, so this is a win-win-win.”
Restaurants Canada is a national, not-for-profit association advancing Canada’s diverse and dynamic foodservice industry. Restaurants are a $120 billion industry employing nearly 1.2 million Canadians and are the number one source of first-time jobs in Canada.
“We’re very pleased to see these early signs of recovering consumer demand for our sector. This shows that removing sales tax on food is a measure that supports Canadians, businesses and workers. We urge the federal government to make the GST and HST tax break on prepared food permanent,” noted Higginson.
2024 was an incredibly difficult year for restaurants, between rising operating costs (total food costs have increased by 25 per cent, insurance by 24 per cent, utilities by 20 per cent and labour costs by 18 per cent) and lower consumer demand. In fact, 53 per cent of restaurants are operating at a loss or barely breaking even. Restaurants Canada has been calling on governments to prioritize affordability measures, and the GST and HST holiday has done just that, added Restaurants Canada.
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