FREDERICTON — Restaurants Canada has extended its congratulations to Premier Blaine Higgs on the re-election of his government.
“The people of New Brunswick have returned the government with a strong mandate to help them pull through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Luc Erjavec, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Atlantic Canada. “Restaurants Canada looks forward to continuing our work with Premier Higgs and his team on behalf of the many foodservice businesses and employees who serve the province every day.”
New Brunswick’s restaurant sector remains hardest hit by COVID-19
Not only was New Brunswick’s foodservice industry among the first and hardest hit by the impacts of COVID-19, the sector will also be among the slowest to recover.
According to a Restaurants Canada survey conducted during the summer:
- The majority of New Brunswick’s restaurants are still not profitable: 47% of survey respondents said they are operating at a loss and 24% said they are just breaking even.
- More than half of restaurants still operating at a loss expect to take at least a year to return to profitability:
- 10% said 6 months or less.
- 33% said 7 months to a year.
- 43% said between a year and 18 months.
- 14% said more than 18 months.
A menu for recovery
Restaurants Canada shared recommendations to support the recovery of New Brunswick’s foodservice sector with all of the province’s major parties in the lead up to the election.
“Restaurants Canada looks forward to working with all newly elected members of New Brunswick’s legislature to help restaurants continue contributing to the economic and social fabric of communities across the province,” said Erjavec.
Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Brunswick’s foodservice sector represented 4 per cent of the province’s GDP and was the province’s fourth-largest private sector employer. By April, COVID-19 had resulted in somewhere between 8,100 to 13,700 foodservice workers losing their jobs or having their hours cut down to zero. While foodservice employment in New Brunswick increased by 6,900 jobs between March and August, the province’s hospitality sector is still 1,200 jobs short of where it was in February 2020.
About Restaurants Canada
Restaurants Canada is a national, not-for-profit association advancing the potential of Canada’s diverse and dynamic foodservice industry through member programs, research, advocacy, resources and events. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, New Brunswick’s foodservice sector was a $1.6 billion industry, directly employing nearly 22,000 people, providing the province’s number one source of first jobs and serving tens of thousands of customers every day. The industry lost more than 8,000 jobs by April and is on track to lose as much as $768 million in annual sales compared to 2019 due to the impacts of COVID-19.
-30-
For more information, contact:
Luc Erjavec
Vice President, Atlantic Canada
Restaurants Canada
C: 902-209-0804
Toll-free: 1-800-387-5649 ext. 5000
lerjavec@restaurantscanada.org
Restaurants Canada Digital
Nam dapibus nisl vitae elit fringilla rutrum. Aenean sollicitudin, erat a elementum rutrum, neque sem pretium metus, quis mollis nisl nunc et massa. Vestibulum sed metus in lorem tristique ullamcorper id vitae erat.
