Food services and drinking places, June 2021
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Released: 2021-08-24
$5.4 billion
June 2021
20.3% 
(monthly change)
$66.9 million
June 2021
-0.5% 
(monthly change)
$23.1 million
June 2021
-2.4%
(monthly change)
$124.8 million
June 2021
28.0%
(monthly change)
$97.7 million
June 2021
0.1%
(monthly change)
$1,102.5 million
June 2021
31.9%
(monthly change)
$1,902.6 million
June 2021
18.9%
(monthly change)
$144.4 million
June 2021
0.6%
(monthly change)
$163.1 million
June 2021
13.8%
(monthly change)
$724.9 million
June 2021
26.1%
(monthly change)
$991.7 million
June 2021
16.2%
(monthly change)
$6.0 million
June 2021
-1.1%
(monthly change)
$5.8 million
June 2021
11.0%
(monthly change)
$1.4 million
June 2021
0.7%
(monthly change)
On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales in the food service and drinking places subsector were up (+20.3%) in June 2021 compared with the previous month, as restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic eased throughout the country. Receipts totalled $5.4 billion, reaching their highest level since the beginning of the pandemic. Full-service restaurants (+53.2%), drinking places (+82.3%), limited-service restaurants (+2.2%) and special food services (+9.1%) all saw increased sales.
Eight of the provinces reported higher sales, with the largest increases in dollar terms being in Ontario (+18.9%), Quebec (+31.9%), Alberta (+26.1%) and British Columbia (+16.2%). Nova Scotia also had a large increase in sales (+28.0%), following a sharp decline the previous month because of restrictions on dining in restaurants. Sales declined in Prince Edward Island (-2.4%) and Newfoundland (-0.5%), as these provinces eased some interprovincial travel restrictions later in the month.
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 are up year over year, but still lower than before the pandemic
The figures in this section are based on seasonally unadjusted estimates.
More than a year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent restrictions on the food services and drinking places subsector, unadjusted sales for June 2021 were up one-third (+32.2%) compared with June 2020. On a quarterly basis, sales in the second quarter of 2021 were up by almost a half (+45.0%) compared with April, May and June of 2020, the first full quarter of the pandemic.
Nevertheless, sales were still lower than before the pandemic. Sales in June 2021 were 16.4% lower than in June 2019, as companies in the food services and drinking places subsector pivoted to conduct business in a new reality this past year. This is an improvement over last month, where sales were almost one-third (-30.5%) lower than in May 2019.
In June 2021, prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 2.8% compared with June 2020, while prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments decreased by 1.3% over the same period (see table 18-10-0004-13).
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
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