Restaurant visits improve in March
The ongoing threat of tariffs is causing significant economic uncertainty, with consumer confidence in Canada to plummeting to its lowest levels since 2002. Despite an uncertain backdrop, Restaurants Canada’s Consumer Dining Index (CDI) showed some improvement in March following a weaker growth at the start of the year. It’s worth noting that January and February were coming off strong growth in 2024, so a slowdown in early 2025 was anticipated.
The CDI is calculated as a weighted average of the number of times Canadians purchased a meal or snack from a restaurant in the past month, indexed to July 2023 = 100. In March 2025, the CDI rose to 91.8, up from 86.6 in February 2025. On a year-over-year basis, the CDI increased slightly from 91.0.
While visit frequency for the dinner daypart was relatively unchanged in March compared to February, a greater share of Canadians purchased breakfast and snacks once a week or more in March. Meanwhile, a greater share of Canadians purchased lunch from a restaurant at least once in March, rising to 72% from 69% in February.
Looking ahead, 66% of Canadians intend to dine out about the same in April at quick-service restaurants, while 61% say the same for full-service restaurants.
For more details, check out the latest REACT Report and explore habit changes in the REACT Consumer Pulse Dashboard here.
As the Chief Economist and Vice President of Research for Restaurants Canada, Chris Elliott manages and produces a comprehensive research program that has made Restaurants Canada a leading source of information for and about Canada’s nearly $120-billion foodservice industry. Chris tracks and analyzes key industry and economic indicators and translates them into member reports and publications. He also provides research to support Restaurants Canada’s lobbying efforts on issues that affect foodservice operators – from payroll taxes to food costs.
Chris has worked with Restaurants Canada for over 20 years, has a Bachelor of Arts and Master’s Degree in Economics and specializes in economic modelling and forecasting.
