indicatorThe Owl

Restaurant sales improve but still weak

Sales in Alberta in November remained $37 million below the pre-pandemic level set in February 2020

By Siddhartha Bhattacharya, ATB Economics 27 January 2022 1 min read

After two consecutive declines, Alberta’s seasonally adjusted restaurant and bar sales ticked up by $6.5 million (+0.8%) in November.

On an unadjusted basis, restaurant and bar sales stood $789 million (+11%) higher over the first eleven months in 2021 compared to the same period in 2020. According to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index data, average prices of food purchased from restaurants grew 2.7% during the same time period, partly contributing to the year-to-date growth.

Sales in Alberta, however, remained $37 million (-4.5%) below the pre-pandemic level set in February 2020 and Ontario was the only other province yet to surpass its pre-pandemic level.

Nationally, unadjusted revenues were up $8.7 billion (+17%) year-to-date, driven by solid gains in full and limited-service restaurant sales.

Answer to the previous trivia question: The Bank of Canada’s board of directors consists of twelve part-time directors plus the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the Deputy Minister of Finance (the latter without a vote).

Today’s trivia question: What year did the Alberta government abolish gender-based segregation of bars in all parts of the province? (Mixed drinking in beer parlours was already allowed in Calgary and Edmonton after the passing of a plebiscite in 1957.)

Alberta’s seasonally adjusted restaurant and bar sales ticked up by $6.5 million (+0.8%) in November 2022

Alberta’s seasonally adjusted restaurant and bar sales ticked up by $6.5 million (+0.8%) in November 2022


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