Food services and drinking places, February 2021
Released: 2021-04-26
$4.4 billion
February 2021
6.7% 
(monthly change)
$54.0 million
February 2021
-18.5% 
(monthly change)
$24.3 million
February 2021
-0.6%
(monthly change)
$125.3 million
February 2021
1.3%
(monthly change)
$88.0 million
February 2021
9.5%
(monthly change)
$772.1 million
February 2021
8.8%
(monthly change)
$1,609.8 million
February 2021
8.1%
(monthly change)
$133.9 million
February 2021
6.0%
(monthly change)
$139.8 million
February 2021
1.4%
(monthly change)
$594.1 million
February 2021
15.1%
(monthly change)
$867.7 million
February 2021
1.1%
(monthly change)
$6.0 million
February 2021
-4.2%
(monthly change)
$4.4 million
February 2021
-1.1%
(monthly change)
$1.5 million
February 2021
-3.0%
(monthly change)
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales in the food service and drinking places subsector increased by 6.7% to $4.4 billion in February. Sales rose at full-service restaurants (+17.0%) and drinking places (+39.9%), as several provinces eased lockdowns and other COVID-19-related restrictions that were in place the previous month.
Receipts were up at limited-service restaurants (+0.8%), while sales were unchanged in special food services (0.0%). Eight provinces reported higher sales, with Ontario (+8.1%), Alberta (+15.1%) and Quebec (+8.8%) posting the largest increases in dollar terms.
Chart 1
Sales in food services and drinking places
Further information is available in the Food Services and Drinking Places Sales dashboard, which provides access to 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.
Sales in the food services and drinking places subsector still down year over year
The figures in this section are based on seasonally unadjusted estimates.
Because of the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on the food services and drinking places subsector, unadjusted sales for February were down 34.2% compared with February 2020. Sales fell in each of the following industry groups: full-service restaurants (-47.7%), limited-service restaurants (-13.3%), special food services (-57.1%) and drinking places (-64.9%).
Year over year, sales decreased in every province, with Ontario (-39.3%), Quebec (-42.7%), British Columbia (-24.5%) and Alberta (-30.4%) reporting the largest declines.
Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 2.9% in February compared with February 2020 and prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments decreased 0.3% over the same period.
Note to readers
All data in this release are seasonally adjusted and expressed in current dollars, unless otherwise noted. 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 StatCan Blog and 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.
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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