Food services and drinking places, May 2024
Released: 2024-07-24
$8.1 billion
May 2024
0.6% 
(monthly change)
$90.5 million
May 2024
1.1%
(monthly change)
$37.3 million
May 2024
0.2%
(monthly change)
$192.0 million
May 2024
1.3%
(monthly change)
$137.1 million
May 2024
1.6%
(monthly change)
$1,537.8 million
May 2024
0.6%
(monthly change)
$3,189.6 million
May 2024
0.8%
(monthly change)
$225.6 million
May 2024
-0.9% 
(monthly change)
$209.4 million
May 2024
-0.9%
(monthly change)
$1,032.6 million
May 2024
0.2%
(monthly change)
$1,400.9 million
May 2024
0.8%
(monthly change)
$10.3 million
May 2024
4.3%
(monthly change)
$6.7 million
May 2024
1.9%
(monthly change)
$2.0 million
May 2024
4.0%
(monthly change)
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales in the food services and drinking places subsector increased 0.6% to $8.1 billion in May 2024.
Gains in limited-service restaurants (+0.6%), special food services (+3.5%) and full-service restaurants (+0.2%) were responsible for the increase in May. Sales at drinking places (-1.2%) were down.
In May, eight provinces saw higher sales, with the largest contributors to the increase being Ontario (+0.8%), British Columbia (+0.8%) and Quebec (+0.6%).
Chart 1
Sales in food services and drinking places
Year-over-year sales in the food services and drinking places subsector up
The figures in this section are based on unadjusted (that is, not seasonally adjusted) estimates.
Compared with one year earlier, unadjusted sales for May 2024 were up 5.9%. Sales increased in all but one of the industry groups, the largest in dollar terms being in limited-service restaurants (+6.4%), followed by full-service restaurants (+4.8%). Drinking places (-1.4%) was the only industry group to post a year-over-year decline in unadjusted sales.
Year-over-year, sales increased in all provinces in May, with Ontario (+6.1%), Quebec (+5.4%) and British Columbia (+6.0%) posting the largest increases.
Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 4.2% in May 2024 compared with May 2023, and prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments increased 3.6% over the same period.
Looking for more insight?
Further information is available in the "Food Services and Drinking Places Sales" dashboard, where users can consult data on sales in food services and drinking places for Canada and by province and territory. This application allows users to compare provincial and territorial data through interactive maps and charts.
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Note to readers
Unless otherwise noted, all data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars. Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Trend-cycle data are included in selected charts to complement the seasonally adjusted series. These data represent a smoothed version of the seasonally adjusted time series and provide information on longer-term movements, including changes in direction underlying the series. For information on trend-cycle data, see the page Trend-cycle estimates – Frequently asked questions.
Data for the current reference month are preliminary. Usually, unadjusted data are revised for the previous two months, and seasonally adjusted data are revised for the previous three months. Both seasonally adjusted data and trend-cycle estimates are subject to revision as additional observations become available. These revisions could be large and could even lead to a reversal of movement, especially for reference months near the end of the series or during periods of economic disruption.
Find these data and more statistics on the Business and consumer services and culture statistics portal.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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