Alberta's food services suffered during last COVID-19 shut down: StatCan
The province's food services industry took a big hit during the last shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.
The report, released last week indicated that Alberta suffered the heaviest losses in the country because of the closure of indoor and outdoor dining on May 10.
"The increase in sales at limited-service restaurants (+0.6 per cent), special food services (+1.5 per cent) and drinking places (+1.6 per cent) were not enough to offset the decline at full-service restaurants (-3.2 per cent). Eight provinces reported lower sales, with the largest decrease in dollar terms in Alberta," the agency wrote.
StatCan said sales from April 2021 to May 2021 dropped by 5.5 per cent or approximately $32,717,000.
However, despite those losses, the agency says it's still a vast improvement over the revenue earned in May 2020, when the country was just three months into the shut down.
Country wide, StatCan said there was only a 0.6 per cent drop in sales for the food services industry and a 37.1 per cent jump in sales from last year.
But the agency said all those figures were also affected by higher prices of some menu items.
"Prices for food purchased from restaurants were up 2.6 per cent in May 2021 compared with May 2020, and prices for alcoholic beverages served in licensed establishments decreased 1.5 per cent over the same period."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.