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%).
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.
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).