Food services and drinking places

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Current dollar sales for the food services and drinking places industry decreased 0.8% from the previous month to just under $4.0 billion in March. This comes after an increase in sales in both January and February.

The price of food purchased in restaurants increased by 0.1% between February and March, according to the Consumer Price Index.

In March, three of the four sectors in the industry posted lower sales relative to February. The largest sales decrease was in limited service restaurants where patrons order and pay for their meals at the counter, down 1.1%.

Sales at full-service restaurants, where patrons order and pay for meals at their table, decreased by 0.8%, while sales at drinking places declined by 0.3%.

Sales in the special food services sector, which comprises food service contractors, caterers and mobile food services, increased by 0.8%.

Across the country, seven provinces registered lower sales, while three had increases. The largest sales decrease was in British Colombia while Prince Edward Island posted the largest increase.

Note: All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars.

Preliminary data are provided for the current reference month. Unadjusted data, based on late responses, are revised for the two previous months. Seasonally adjusted data were revised back to January 2008.

Starting in the summer of 2009, annual revisions will take place once a year, for all months in the previous years to improve data quality and coherence.

Available on CANSIM: table 355-0006.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2419.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Marc Racette (613-951-2924; fax: 613-951-6696; marc.racette@statcan.gc.ca), or Pierre Felx (613-951-0075; pierre.felx@statcan.gc.ca), Service Industries Division.