Alberta – Restaurants Canada has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the troubling realities that restaurants in Alberta are facing and policy solutions for the next provincial government.
“Since 2015, restaurants across Alberta have been battling a perfect storm of operational cost increases from a variety of policy changes, against the backdrop of a weakened economy,” said Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada vice-president for Western Canada, in a news release. “Working together with Restaurants Canada, Alberta’s next government has an opportunity to improve conditions for foodservice businesses so that they can continue serving communities across this province.”
For years, Alberta’s restaurant sector led the nation, contributing to jobs, tourism, investment and spaces for people to come together. Alberta’s food-service sales growth now ranks second-to-last of all the provinces in Canada due to several setbacks caused by operational cost increases from legislative and regulatory changes, the release said.
Policies that were intended to boost earnings and reduce the cost of living for Albertans have instead resulted in a food-service crisis, including a loss of more than 10,000 food-service and accommodation jobs, a decline in the average number of workers per unit from 13 to 11.7, and nearly 10 per cent drop in average sales per unit (adjusted for menu inflation).
(SOURCE: Statistics Canada)
Restaurants Canada is inviting everyone who cares about Alberta’s foodservice and hospitality community to visit restaurantrealities.ca to get informed about the key issues, share policy recommendations with local candidates and join in the conversation on social media with the hashtag #RestaurantRealities.
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