Nearly half of Canadian restaurants are struggling to stay afloat and fear they will not even make it to fall. According to Alignable’s Small Business Revenue Report, 47 per cent of Canadian SMBs say they are at risk of closing by the fall due to multiple persistent pressures including inflation, labour struggles, and a stretched […]
Following earlier moves by Quebec and Ontario since late December, New Brunswick has become the latest province to ban indoor dining amid the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Starting January 14, dining rooms across New Brunswick will be closed as just one of numerous new restrictions introduced. The provincial government announced on January 13 that all […]
Updated January 10, 2021 Restaurant owners and staff would be forgiven for feeling transported back to 2020 in the early days of 2022, as indoor dining shuts down again in some areas in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Quebec blinked first, and Ontario soon followed. The closures are an attempt to stifle the […]
Kingston, Ont. has introduced a week’s worth of new restrictions aimed at curbing the city’s alarming COVID-19 infection rate. The city is limiting gatherings to a maximum of five people and enforcing new measures on restaurants in response to the spread of the Omicron variant. Introduced with just hours’ notice and effective December 13 at […]
The long road out of COVID-19 is strewn with potholes and other hazards, not least the Delta variant. The highly contagious variant was first discovered in India in late 2020 and now accounts for the majority of cases in Canada and various other countries. For example, 95 per cent of all positive tests in British Columbia […]
Recent data from The NPD Group has found that the Canadian restaurant count fell by 5,000 during 2020. Before the pandemic, there had been around 66,000 Canadian restaurant units since 2016. Then, 2020 happened. The NPD Group data reports the industry lost 5,000 units, a decline of eight per cent, last year. Independent restaurants lost […]
As Ontario indoor dining remains prohibited, the province is now the only jurisdiction in North America where eating indoors is still not allowed. Dining rooms across the province have been closed down for over three months since Easter Saturday, April 3. At that time, the measure was announced as being in place for a minimum […]
Nova Scotia indoor dining must close across the province for at least the next two weeks amid a new shutdown aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19. Restaurants and bars must close for dine-in service, although contactless takeout or delivery is allowed. Retail outlets including those that sell food can remain open at 25 per […]
The Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) and Restaurants Canada have sent an open letter to Ontario Premier Doug Ford requesting immediate action to reverse the impacts to Ontario’s foodservice sector as a result of “needless” restaurant closures. ORHMA notes that as a result of last week’s shutdown announcement, Ontario’s restaurants have spent more […]
Starbucks Canada says its plan to close up to 300 coffee shops across the country will be complete by the end of March. The Seattle-based coffeehouse and roastery chain announced the acceleration of what it calls a five-year “transformation strategy” last year as it responded to changes in consumer habits during the COVID-19 pandemic. In […]
