A new survey shows three in four Canadians are eating out less often and snacking more due to the rising cost of living. The 2025 Foodservice Facts report released Monday shares that Canadians are choosing to eat at home more than they were pre-pandemic. “What we are seeing is obviously a reaction to the affordability crisis that we’ve been negotiating in our lives for the last couple of years and I think all Canadians - we know it’s at the top of the priority list for Canadians. The affordability issue is having a huge impact on their day-to-day quality of life,” says Kelly Higginson, president and CEO of Restaurants Canada. Canadians with large families say it’s too costly to go out, especially when considering the costs of tips and gratuity. “I eat out significantly less lately. A lot of it comes down to the cost. The cost of the food is going up. The cost of living is not keeping up with it. When you have a family with multiple kids, it starts to really add up a lot quicker. We tend to buy our food in bulk instead and bring it home and cook it home,” says Troy Wagner. Carlos Conde says he eats in more than eating out with his family, but for business and work he dines out. “Part of my job is meeting with folks and being in social environments. Of course, ends up being we’re eating out and eating in restaurants but from a home life perspective, we try to eat in more,” says Conde, “we find that when we do eat at home and with our own meals, we have more control of what we can eat and the ingredients.” In the last six months, 64 per cent of Canadians ordered delivery and have replaced a traditional meal with a snacking. “Every time we come to the city, we actually go out and eat. We treat ourselves. If we are coming to the city a little bit more, we treat ourselves a little bit more,” says Raven Brascoupe, from Kitigan Zibi. Swathi Mudili says she lives by herself and is currently not working and she doesn’t remember the last time she ate at a restaurant. “It’s very expensive to eat at restaurants. I am eating this salad and buffet bars because I can pay by weight,” says Mudili, “You don’t know the quality of things. A lot of it went up because of the trade issues and all that. The prices are high and the job market is not good. The more you save, the better,” Mudili said. The report also stated 41 per cent of Canadians have lessened their alcohol consumption over the past year, as well as a decrease in late night gatherings and socialization among young people. With less consumer spending and less traffic at restaurants this is causing an impact to the food industry. “Pre-pandemic, we had 12 per cent of the industry that was operating at a loss or barely breaking even. Now we’re looking at almost 45 per cent of the industry that’s operating at a loss and barely breaking even. It has been consistently at this level or a bit higher for the last five years. This can only go on for so long. What we do see is the impact on Canadians because we have operations that are hiring less. We have we have operations that are closing down. We have operations that are really having to make some tough decisions in communities across the country,” says Higginson of Restaurants Canada. Restaurants Canada would like the Federal government to put a tax cut on the menu. “We have highlighted the government that there is something that we’ve had a test run on is to remove the GST off of all of food for Canadians. This would have an immediate impact on their day to day quality of life,” says Higginson.
