Food services and drinking places, April 2016
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Released: 2016-06-30
$5.4 billion
April 2016
1.0% 
(monthly change)
Sales in the food services and drinking places subsector rose 1.0% to $5.4 billion in April. Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 2.7% year over year in April, following a 2.6% increase the previous month.
Chart 1
Food services and drinking places sales rise in April
Full-service restaurant industry sales increase
The full-service restaurant industry posted the largest sales gain in dollar terms, up 2.3% in April. Sales in the drinking places industry rose 1.9%, following a 1.6% increase the previous month.
Limited-service restaurant receipts were unchanged from March to April, but were up 8.8% year over year.
The special food services industry group, which includes food service contractors, caterers and mobile food services, posted a 1.0% sales decline, the third decrease in four months.
Sales up in six provinces
Sales in Ontario (+1.7%) registered the largest increase in dollar terms in April, accounting for most of the national gain.
Above-average warm weather contributed to higher sales in most western provinces. Sales rose 1.4% in British Columbia, the fifth consecutive monthly increase.
Receipts were up in Alberta (+0.9%) and Manitoba (+0.8%), on the strength of gains in the full-service restaurant industry.
Sales in Newfoundland and Labrador fell 2.2%, following two consecutive monthly gains.
Sales in Quebec edged down 0.1% in April, the first decrease in five months.
Note to readers
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
For information on trend-cycle data, see the StatCan Blog and Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.
Data for the current reference month are preliminary. Usually, unadjusted data are revised for the two previous months, and seasonally adjusted data are revised for the three previous months.
With this release, the Monthly Survey of Food Services and Drinking Places completed annual revisions for 2014 and 2015, and a major restratification (selection of a new sample). Unadjusted data have been revised back to January 2009 and seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January 2006.
Factors influencing revisions beyond the usual short-term period include the late receipt of respondent information, corrections to the information provided, the replacement of estimated figures with actual values (once available), the re-classification of companies within, into and out of the food services and drinking places subsector, and updates to seasonal factors.
Revisions may have a greater impact in more volatile industries and in smaller provinces/territories.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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