Restaurant owners in Saint John, N.B., optimistic about GST cut

On Thursday, the federal government announced a temporary pause on federal sales tax for new items including toys, groceries and restaurant bills.

The two month break from GST will run from December 14 to February 15. It is a decision being widely celebrated in the restaurant industry where sales have decreased as cost of living increases.

Keith Broome is the head chef and owner of Vegolution in uptown Saint John. He said he was surprised, but it’s great news.

“During that time of year it’s a little bit slower,” said Broome. “So hopefully this brings in an influx of people. They have a little more spending money, so hopefully that helps out.”

Owner of Beer Bread and Rocky’s Sports Bar Moe Arsenault said the industry is still dealing with impacts from the pandemic. He said any news that helps restaurants is welcome.

“We think this can be a great time of year for a corporate event to possibly reassess and think about coming out and doing corporate events at establishments like our own,” said Arsenault. “So we are really excited about it.”

Neither restaurant owner is certain how the billing process will change, but they don’t expect issues.

“I think it's going to be a positive impact for us,” said Beer Bread Executive Chef Alex Newton. “Especially because of all the impact we got nailed with during COVID. I think this is a really good way to kind of encourage folks to come in for the holiday season to engage and enjoy.”

Kris Barnier is the acting vice president for the Atlantic Canada region at Restaurants Canada. He said the tax cut is great news for restaurant companies because 53 per cent are operating at a loss or just breaking even, up from 12 per cent pre-pandemic. Barnier said the average resident of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia is spending over $100 less then they were in restaurants back in 2019.

“We're optimistic and looking forward to some of that (money) coming back to help out a sector that's really struggling,” Barnier said. “This industry employs tens of thousands of people in each of the Maritime and Atlantic provinces.”

Barnier said cutting back on eating out was the first move many Canadians made to try and combat the rising cost of living. He believes the tax break will bring customers back to their favourite spots.

“People know exactly how much their favourite meal or meals cost in a restaurant, and if they know it's going to be a little bit less then maybe it makes it that much more compelling for them to go and have that meal,” said Barnier. “Any little thing that maybe drives an extra few thousand dollars of revenue or a few thousand dollars worth of profit, it is a life sent to these folks.”

On X, Head of the Agri-Food Lab at Dalhousie University Sylvain Charlebois said the food-related tax cuts will save the average Canadian $4.51 at the grocery store, and $19.51 at restaurants.

The tax break is not expected to apply to spirits. Wine and beer beverages are expected to be apart of the exemption when receiving a bill after eating out.

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