Restaurant transactions up during GST break

Donoreo

"Restaurant transactions increased by 7.6 percentage points on average during the GST and HST holiday, according to new data released Friday by Restaurants Canada."
"The association said the average transaction size at table-service restaurants rose by 5.4% year-over-year in the first six weeks of the GST and HST holiday, based on transaction data from Moneris and applying Restaurant Canada methodology. This represents a 7.6 percentage point swing compared to the three weeks before the tax holiday, when transactions were on average 2.2% lower year-over-year. Quick service restaurants saw an 8.3 percentage point increase in transaction sizes and drinking places saw a 7.5 percentage point boost."

https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2025/02/restaurant-transactions-7-6-higher-during-gst-and-hst-holiday/

GrumpyCanadian

I'm sure the results weren't quite so rosy in areas where the GST was the only thing on the "holiday" list. Those of us in Quebec only got the 5% reduction, so it wasn't making as much of a dent (barely noticeable to me, in fact). Some restaurants still reported improvements, according to some reports, but it would be nice to see the numbers broken down by province/territory.