B.C. restaurants squeezed by rising costs: Report

B.C.’s restaurant industry is absorbing cost pressures more sharply than the rest of the country, according to new data from EconoLease’s 2026 Hospitality Operator Report.
The report reveals that the province’s hospitality sector is under financial pressure, due to tariffs, costs of upgrades to cooking equipment and disproportionately high startup costs.
The report, released Sept. 15, surveyed 250 Canadian foodservice and hospitality operators and found that 90 per cent of B.C