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Restaurants call for national working group to bring back 260,000 jobs

With food-service businesses continuing to face devastating restrictions, Restaurants Canada is calling for a national working group to lay the groundwork for the industry’s revival in 2021.

“Our members are seeking a new year’s resolution from government, not only to support their survival but our industry’s vital role building back a stronger, more resilient Canada,” Restaurants Canada President and CEO Todd Barclay said in a press release.

“Restaurants Canada is calling for a national working group to pave the way for the food-service sector’s revival, building on the commitment in the federal government’s 2020 fall economic statement to provide targeted, sector-specific support to restaurants and other hardest-hit businesses.”

Risk of closures

According to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, the food-service sector lost 72,000 jobs in October and November, after recovering 426,900 jobs from May to September.

This leaves the industry more than 260,000 jobs short of where it was in February, according to the release.

Citing an internal survey, Restaurants Canada also indicated that:

• Eight out of 10 restaurants are either losing money or barely scraping by.
  • 65 per cent are continuing to operate at a loss, while 19 per cent are just breaking even.
  • 63 per cent of food-service businesses that are losing money expect to take at least a year to return to profitability.
• 48 per cent of single-unit food-service operators expect to permanently close their establishment within six months if conditions don’t improve, while 56 per cent of multi-unit operators said they expect to close at least one of their locations within the same time period.