AN IMPORTANT LINK IN QUEBEC’S BIO-FOOD CHAIN
Commercial foodservice accounts for nearly one third of the province’s food demand, with $18.6 billion in gross sales in 2024 alone. It reinvested $6.8 billion of these revenues in purchases of agricultural, fishery, and processed products, more than half of which were Quebec-produced. In total, 75 cents of every dollar spent in commercial food service establishments in Quebec is directly reinvested in the province.
18.6 billion
Gross sales in 2024
18.520
Etablishments 2024
253.000
Jobs in 2024
The approximately 18,500 commercial food service establishments in Quebec employed more than 253,000 people in 2024, including 109,400 aged 25 and under.
Full-service establishments—that is, those where the bill is paid at the end of the meal—accounted for 58.7% of active establishments and 45.7% of industry sales. Meanwhile, limited-service establishments accounted for 30.8% of establishments and 42.2% of annual sales. The commercial restaurant industry in Quebec is distinguished by the fact that 58.2% of its establishments are independent, the highest proportion in the country, tied with British Columbia and 17.2 percentage points ahead of Alberta.
In 2024, 423 restaurants filed for bankruptcy, representing a marginal increase of 4.2% compared to the 406 bankruptcies recorded in 2023. It is worth noting that Quebec bankruptcies accounted for 63.3% of all restaurant sector bankruptcies in Canada.
In 2023, the cost of goods sold by food service establishments accounted for 36.5% of operating expenses, while wages, salaries, and benefits accounted for 34.2%. The profit margin stood at 3.5% in Quebec and 3.6% across Canada.
Commercial foodservice remains a fiercely competitive industry, as evidenced by survival rates that are approximately 6% below the averages of other industries after their fourth year of operation.
| SALES (2024) | 18,6 billion $ |
| NUMBER OF ESTABLISHMENTS (2024) | 18,520 |
| JOBS – ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICES (2024) | 253,100 |
| JOBS – ACCOMMODATION AND FOOD SERVICES (under age of 25) (2024) | 109,400 |
| CHAINS vs. INDEPENDENTS (2018) | 41,8 % vs 58,2 % |
| NUMBER OF BANKRUPTCIES IN QUEBEC (2024) | 423 |
| RATIO OF BANKRUPTCIES IN QUEBEC TO CANADA (2024) | 63,2 % |
More statistics?
Feel free to request the latest edition of the document titled Profile and Performance of Quebec’s restaurant industry, published exclusively by the ARQ, by writing to the following address: mapoirier@restauration.org. A fee of $50 is required for non-members.