Many hands make
Restaurants work
Canada’s restaurants employ 1.2 million employees, including more than 480,000 youth, representing 1 in 6 youth jobs.
Despite the second highest wage growth of any industry since 2021, attracting talent remains difficult in many areas of the country.
Smart policy from Ottawa can help restaurants thrive.
Scroll around to learn more about Canada’s restaurant industry.
Restaurants are Canada’s 4th largest employer
Nearly 1.2 million people work in the restaurant industry from coast to coast to coast.
Restaurants are economic drivers – cornerstones of our communities.
100K+
foodservice locations across Canada
23.7M
visits made to
restaurants every day
$125 B
in annual
foodservice sales
$26 B
contributed in taxes
3.9%
of the country’s GDP
70,000
Foodservice jobs
are vacant today.
Vacancies are expected to exceed
105,000
by 2030, even before accounting for new restrictions on foreign labour.
Labour shortages are hurting local economies.
We need policies from Ottawa that match real restaurant needs.
One solution? Invest in Canadian youth.
The restaurant industry is a key source of first-time jobs, teaches essential workplace skills, and builds the foundation for future careers.
With the right federal policies, the sector can continue to create meaningful opportunities for hundreds of thousands of young Canadians while strengthening the national economy and community life.
1 in 4 Canadians
between the ages of 18 and 54 have worked in the restaurant industry at some point in their lives.
Another solution? Recognize the unique needs of restaurants operating in rural and tourism areas of the country.
Rural and remote regions of Canada often lack enough local workers to fill essential roles like chefs, cooks, and staff for overnight shifts.
Tourism areas are also highly sensitive to shifts in domestic travel. A dedicated rural, remote, and tourism labour stream will help address chronic workforce gaps. Grants and tax incentives for automation and smart kitchen technology as well as financial support for onboarding high-skilled roles and training grants will also support the broader industry and be impactful for rural and tourism areas.
And one more idea, would be to value the strong history of restaurants employing newcomers to Canada.
In fact, half of all Canadian restaurants are run by people who came here as immigrants.
For many newcomers to Canada, a restaurant job provides their first Canadian workplace, income, and experience, helping them integrate into their community.
Preserving our access to newcomers to Canada is critical to our sector’s stability. Without it, countless restaurants risk closure.
Especially in rural and tourism-focused areas, newcomers often fill positions where there is no local available labour force.
Temporary Foreign Workers are often a last resort, only represent 3% of the workforce and are critical in rural areas of the country. The rigorous process of employing them is more expensive and lengthier than hiring locally, but it’s critical in a world where our population is aging, and our workforce is shrinking.
Chefs. Managers. Dishwashers. Servers.
They all have a hand in making restaurants work to keep the place moving.
