![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/community_section8_cta_about_rc_history_annual_convention_1174_x_1008.jpg)
Times have changed
Since Restaurants Canada was founded as the Canadian Restaurant Association in 1944, but our purpose remains the same: to help foodservice businesses grow and prosper! Explore our rich history.
1940s
Led to the creation of a national
voice for restaurants.
With the Second World War underway, food rationing was killing sales, and the government was proposing menu price controls. Butter, sugar and beverages were scarce and some restaurants were forced into “Meatless Tuesdays”.
![1940s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-104@2x.png)
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-103@2x.png)
1940s
![1940s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-105.png)
Nine of the country’s foodservice leaders decided to create a unified voice — a national association to speak on behalf of restaurants and their challenges. And so, the Canadian Restaurant Association was born.
1940s
1950s
Ushered in the age
of advertising
The cost of doing business was soaring and restaurants were struggling. Food prices in 1951 were five times the cost they were before wartime. But menu prices had only doubled since that same period.
![1950s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-109@2x.png)
1950s
![1950s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-111@2x.png)
The Canadian Restaurant Association helped its small business members discover the power of advertising to attract customers and took out its own ads in newspapers across the country to promote the restaurant industry.
1950s
1960s
Made dining
out fashionable.
With Canada in the grips of Trudeaumania, the Canadian Restaurant Association was over the moon when a news article published in 1968 said the prime minister commended the organization for “contributing greatly to Canada’s growth.”
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1960s-Image.png)
![1960s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-115@2x.png)
1960s
![1960s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-117@2x.png)
Continuing its work raising the profile of the country’s restaurants, the association came up with a new slogan in line with the keeping up with the Joneses attitude of the decade: “It’s In to Eat Out.”
1960s
1970s
Started the rise
of takeout.
With more women entering the workforce, and the invention of VHS and home theatres, takeout food sales began to soar. Now known as the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, Canada’s national restaurant association promoted its members during a national Restaurant Week, reminding Canadians of the “pleasures of dining out.”
![1970s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-121@2x.png)
1970s
![1970s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-123@2x.png)
The association also ran cooking seminars and other programs to teach restaurant and hotel members how to provide exceptional service.
1970s
1980s
Brought on massive
expansion in member benefits.
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association took note of a new group buying program called Groupex (which it eventually acquired) that gives independent restaurants the buying power of chains.
![1980s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-127@2x.png)
![1980s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-128@2x.png)
1980s
![1980s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-129@2x.png)
Meanwhile, the association’s trade show — then known as HostEx — was selling out too quickly, leaving interested exhibitors without floor space, so it purchased the Canadian Food & Beverage Show to feed the need. Together these shows are now the RC Show!
1980s
1990s
Nearly cost the industry
$200 million due to poor policy.
Thanks to a successful cross-country media and letter- writing campaign, the federal government agreed not to eliminate the yearly basic exemption for Canada Pension Plan premiums.
![1990s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-130@2x.png)
1990s
![1990s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-131@2x.png)
This had a remarkable impact on the industry, saving Canada’s restaurants nearly $200 million over the course of seven years. During this decade, the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association also expanded its regional presence, opening offices in Atlantic Canada and Western Canada.
1990s
2000s
There were years of job
growth and provincial sales tax wars.
By this decade, Canada’s restaurants were employing more than one million Canadians! Prime Minister Jean Chretien met with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association to celebrate this milestone.
![2000s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-134@2x.png)
![2000s Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-133@2x.png)
At the provincial level, the association successfully fought off a sales tax on restaurant meals in Saskatchewan and eventually got British Columbia to reinstate its restaurant meal tax exemption. Regional offices were opened in Quebec and Central Canada.
2000s
2010s
A decade of transformation
The 2010s marked a pivotal period for the association, spearheaded by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservice Association’s (CRFA) rebranding to Restaurants Canada. This strategic shift was accompanied by the consolidation of the Food and Beverage Show and Host Ex to what we know today as the Restaurants Canada Show (RC Show)
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/CRFA_Summit-2011_061-scaled.jpg)
2010s
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/CRFA-Show-2008-004-scaled.jpg)
Restaurants Canada modernized its operations with a new office location on Queen West as well as the introduction of industry research tools like the Outlook Survey, the launch of a new magazine and increased political advocacy with the association’s first Day on the Hill – further positioning Restaurants Canada as the leading voice for the Canadian foodservice sector.
2010s
2020s
Rebuilding the foodservice industry
Coming out of a pandemic, we continued supporting restaurants and meeting with key people to discuss the state of the foodservice industry and the financial challenges facing foodservice owners.
![2020 Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-136@2x.png)
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/MP-Moore-1.jpg)
2020s
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_0205.jpg)
We reminded people to dine locally to support their community and offered support to restaurant owners with issues like the CEBA repayment.
2020s
Today
Vibrant & Thriving
The restaurant business is always evolving and so are we. Under the new banner of Restaurants Canada, we are communicating a stronger, unified identity on behalf of our members.
![Current Decade Image](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Mask-Group-138@2x.png)
Today
![](https://www.restaurantscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Untitled-design-42.png)
Representing the voice of foodservice, we will continue to ensure our growing community is heard. We look forward to spending another 80 years and more helping our members thrive as the future of foodservice unfolds.