Canada’s restaurant sector is at a turning point. Rising costs are pushing more people away from eating out and back into their kitchens. Three out of four Canadians now say they dine out less often because of the cost of living.

At full-service restaurants, per-person spending has fallen from about $1,165 in 2019 to roughly $1,035 today. Quick-service restaurants are holding on slightly better, but spending there has also slipped, from $1,150 to about $1,135. These numbers tell a story of a nation re-evaluating what it means to eat out, and who it is really for.

Perhaps the most telling shifts are in timing. Lunchtime visits to quick-service outlets have surged by 7.6%, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, largely because office workers are back downtown and looking for affordable, quick mea

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