Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
“Restaurants are at the heart of every community in [British Columbia] and almost 50% of them are struggling,” says Ian Tostenson, the President of the Restaurant and Foodservices Association. “Food, labour, and rent costs are rising and customer traffic is down.” It’s a trend that has been gaining momentum since COVID and the BCGEU strike that closed down liquor stores and pushed many operators to the brink of bankruptcy.
Tostenson says, “The strike was particularly difficult because it came at a time when provincial employment regulations were already forcing restaurant operators to cut back on employment.” According to Douglas Magazine, the industry dropped 10,800 positions between September 2023 and the end of 2024.
“70% of restaurants in the province have seen a drop in customers and profitability is down for a mind numbing 81% of restaurants,” says Tostenson, who is calling on the government to reduce payroll taxes, encourage the federal government to do the same, return all or part of WorkSafeBC’s $2.1 billion surplus to employers, and implement Save BC Restaurants’ main issues.
We invited Ian Tostenson of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the state of the province’s food services sector.
---
Your support matters! Become a patron and subscribe: goo.gl/ypXyDs
The views discussed in this video are the opinions of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oh Boy Productions or this show. Any images in this video are for fair use only, as we are a journalism outlet that seeks to illustrate the topic or guest involved.
ctm591 #restaurants #britishcolumbia #economy
“Restaurants are at the heart of every community in [British Columbia] and almost 50% of them are struggling,” says Ian Tostenson, the President of the Restaurant and Foodservices Association. “Food, labour, and rent costs are rising and customer traffic is down.” It’s a trend that has been gaining momentum since COVID and the BCGEU strike that closed down liquor stores and pushed many operators to the brink of bankruptcy.
Tostenson says, “The strike was particularly difficult because it came at a time when provincial employment regulations were already forcing restaurant operators to cut back on employment.” According to Douglas Magazine, the industry dropped 10,800 positions between September 2023 and the end of 2024.
“70% of restaurants in the province have seen a drop in customers and profitability is down for a mind numbing 81% of restaurants,” says Tostenson, who is calling on the government to reduce payroll taxes, encourage the federal government to do the same, return all or part of WorkSafeBC’s $2.1 billion surplus to employers, and implement Save BC Restaurants’ main issues.
We invited Ian Tostenson of the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the state of the province’s food services sector.
---
Your support matters! Become a patron and subscribe: goo.gl/ypXyDs
The views discussed in this video are the opinions of our guests and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oh Boy Productions or this show. Any images in this video are for fair use only, as we are a journalism outlet that seeks to illustrate the topic or guest involved.
ctm591 #restaurants #britishcolumbia #economy
