It’s Mother’s Day on Sunday and that means it is going to be a busy weekend for restaurants.

According to the online restaurant-booking site OpenTable.ca, Mother’s Day is one of the busiest dining days of the year.

This is confirmed by our own consumer spending tracking. Using ATB Mastercard data, we found that dining and entertainment spending in Alberta is, on average, about 25% higher on Mother’s Day than on other Sundays in May.

The shift to experiences

The “experience economy”—a consumer shift toward unique moments, such as travel, culture, and dining, over physical goods—is a trend that has been gaining traction and meshes well with Mother’s Day.

As a 2025 survey for the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) shows, going out to a restaurant tied with buying flowers or decorations as the most popular way to mark Mother’s Day last year. Beyond going out to eat, 18% of 2025 celebrants planned to host a party or join a meal, reinforcing the holiday as a focal point for food-based social gathering.

More generally, the growth in restaurant sales has exceeded grocery sales in Alberta since COVID. While there are many potential explanations for this, we think part of the explanation lies in more emphasis being placed on social experiences in a post-COVID world.  

Spending local

Even with the popularity of the experience economy on Mother’s Day, physical retail options remain a key component.

According to the same RCC survey, 75% of Mother’s Day shoppers planned to make their gift purchases in person last year, an increase from 71% in 2024. What’s more, almost half (48%) of Mother’s Day shoppers planned to support local businesses.

The impact

Retailers and restaurateurs now prepare for about a two-week surge in activity, as the majority of spending occurs within 14 days of Mother’s Day.

Despite concerns about the cost of living, the focus on creating experiences, shopping local, and dining out ensures that Mother’s Day remains an important boost for many businesses.

Answer to the previous trivia question: There were 180,861 small- and medium-sized businesses (i.e., those with between 1-499 employees) in Alberta as of December 2025.

Today’s trivia question: In what year was the Hallmark Channel launched?