Food services and drinking places, December 2021

Released: 2022-02-21

On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales in the food services and drinking places subsector fell 3.1% to $6.0 billion in December 2021 as provinces introduced additional measures to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus. Sales declined at full-service restaurants (-3.0%), limited-service eating places (-2.7%), drinking places (-17.0%) and special food services (-0.1%).

All provinces reported lower sales, with the largest declines in dollar terms being in Quebec (-5.6%) and Ontario (-2.5%). Nova Scotia had the largest decline in percentage terms (-6.6%).

Chart 1 
Sales in food services and drinking places

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.

Year-over-year sales in the food services and drinking places subsector rise, but remain lower than pre-pandemic levels

The figures in this section are based on seasonally unadjusted estimates.

Unadjusted sales for December 2021 were up 41.8% compared with December 2020 and 7.9% lower than December 2019.

Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 4.1% in December 2021 compared with December 2020 and prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments increased 2.7% in the same period (see table 18-10-0004-13).

In 2021, the food services and drinking places subsector continued to be directly affected by government interventions and public anxiety related to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the pandemic entered a second year, all provinces imposed and lifted restrictions throughout the year in response to new waves and variants of the virus, encouraged citizens to get vaccinated, designed proof of vaccination requirements and phased in re-openings in order to allow businesses to operate at a reduced capacity. Businesses learned to pivot in the new reality, which saw unadjusted sales go up 18.8% in 2021 compared with the previous year; however, compared with pre-pandemic 2019, losses were experienced across the subsector (-15.0%).

As restaurants transitioned to take-out and delivery as their primary means of conducting business, and the industry saw limitations on indoor gatherings, the market share of the industry shifted. Limited-service eating places were best positioned to make this transition seeing their market share grow from about 44% of total sales in 2019 to 51% in 2021. In 2019, sales at full-service restaurants accounted for 45% of the market; however, in 2021, that fell to 41% of total sales. Special food services (-2%) and drinking places (-1%) also saw declines in the percentage of their market share due to the pandemic.

The largest increases in dollar terms were in the most populous provinces: Ontario (+18.1%), Quebec (+22.2%) and British Columbia (+21.2%).

Prices continued to rise in the subsector as the prices for food purchased from restaurants increased 3.1% in 2021 compared with 2020, while the prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments increased 0.4% over the same period.

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).