Alberta restaurant prices keep climbing and tariffs and rising costs are top threats, according to local business operators. Nearly one in four restaurants in Western Canada cite tariffs as a top threat to their business in the next 12 months, according to EconoLease’s 2026 Hospitality Operator Report, while 57 per cent of restaurants cite rising food and beverage costs and 40 per cent say economic uncertainty are their other top concerns. Restaurant operators in Western Canada are more likely to have raised restaurant prices this year than those in other areas according to the report. Eighty-eight per cent of Western Canadian restaurants increasing prices as opposed to the 80 per cent of restaurants across Canada, and 53 per cent of restaurants in the region are expected to raise them next year, as opposed to 49 per cent nationally. Six in 10 restaurants in Western Canda are delaying upgraded equipment due due increases costs, with ovens, ranges and fryers being of top concern for operators, the report says. Coffee, beverage and other food preparation equipment follows closely behind. The report finds the typical restaurant operators in Western Canada reports a median overall cost increase of 7.5 per cent over the past year, which is in line with the national median. But still, operators in Alberta and British Columbia are a bit more likely to report both improved and declining margins compared with national numbers. Western Canada restaurant operators are also much more optimistic than their counterparts across the country, with 91 per cent expressing optimism about the year ahead compared with 83 per cent of Canadian restaurateurs overall.
