Challenges for N.S. restaurant industry expected to continue in 2026: RANS

CITYnews halifax / By Steve Gow

There will be no respite for restaurant businesses in Nova Scotia as we head into 2026.

It comes as restaurants continue to struggle after a challenging year filled with minimum wage hikes, a stagnating customer base as well as rising food costs.

It began in April, when the province raised the minimum wage to $15.70 an hour, with another 80-cent increase in October to $16.50 an hour.

At the time, advocates were concerned that the wage hike would threaten job stability and increase menu prices.

It also put a strain on the restaurant industry, which is still dealing with surging food prices that, according to recent report, have led to patrons limiting their restaurant and takeout spending.

Although the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia (RANS) says they support the minimum wage increase, another 50 cent bump expected in 2026 will add to affordability challenges for local restaurants.

“The biggest (concern) for us is really looking at the affordability piece,” says RANS executive director, Natasha Chestnut, adding her organization is considering measures to mitigate the expense.

“We’ve put in requests and would love to see a bigger discount on alcohol for licensees, we’d like to see some incentive around the purchasing of local food; there is lobbying still taking place on the federal level to bring the GST exemption back on food,” she continues. “Things like that would be super helpful because they would bring down the operational costs.”

With a recent report noting that food prices are expected to increase anywhere between four and six per cent in 2026, Chestnut says those cost-cutting measures will be vital to help local businesses absorb the growing expenses for restaurant businesses into the new year.

“There were some positives in 2025. We did see some growth in terms of sales,” notes Chestnut. “If you compared September of 2025 to September of 2024, sales were up nine per cent, which is good. Nova Scotia had the fastest growth across the country.”

She says efforts to align with the growing tourism season in 2025 can also be seen as a positive step forward for the industry.

In the end however, Chestnut says 2026 will present many of the same difficulties that restaurants in Nova Scotia had to deal with all year long.

“The biggest thing for 2026 (is) going to be labour,” says Chestnut, adding that immigration reductions have led to shortages in Nova Scotia kitchens. “That labour piece is really what we are looking into right now, especially for cooks and chefs and where are we going to find those.”