The data points to increases occurring in all provinces during the pandemic, and anecdotally, experts say tipping rates started to rise a few years before COVID-19 entered the picture. The reasons range from the altruism of diners during the pandemic to the practice by some restaurants of changing their payment prompts, according to food and hospitality industry experts. A survey conducted by Restaurants Canada in April 2022 found that 44 per cent of Canadians surveyed said they tip a higher percentage of their bill when dining at a table restaurant, compared to before the pandemic. While the standard tip for table service across Canada was about 15 per cent before the pandemic, as of April, Canadians said they tipped an average of 17.6 per cent. James Rilett, senior vice-president of Restaurants Canada, attributes these changes primarily to sympathetic customers, excited to return to restaurants after pandemic dining closures and eager to support staff. “I think as people realize that a lot of servers and all restaurant employees lost a lot of time when we were closed or had restrictions, people are saying they want to recognize what the servers have been through,” Rilette told CTVNews.ca over the phone. interview Friday. “I think it’s generally a feeling of goodwill that comes from being in a restaurant.” Rilett pointed out that some provinces with the highest increases in customer tipping rates, such as Ontario, also experienced some of the largest dining room closings during the pandemic. In Ontario, 53 per cent of respondents said they tipped more when eating out compared to before the pandemic, now reaching 18.9 per cent of the after-tax bill on average. In British Columbia, where a lower percentage of respondents said they tipped more than before the pandemic, one restaurant manager says tips at his location are higher on average than during the pandemic closure, but around the same level as pre-pandemic rates. Hitesh Verma runs a Montana BBQ and bar in Tsawwassen, BC. He said tipping rates dropped between 8 and 12 percent on average during the pandemic shutdown, when customers could only order takeout. Still, he said tips have returned to pre-pandemic levels of about 17 to 18 percent with the reopening of dining halls. “I would say it was about the same, or not that much of a difference from before the pandemic,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Thursday.
HOW PERFORMANCE CHANGES
In a phenomenon called “tip inflation,” University of Guelphfood economist Michael von Massow said tipping rates can increase due to a number of “organic” factors, such as changing social norms, and external factors, such as rates gratuities on restaurant menus and payment machines. . While the pandemic accelerated some of these trends, von Massow says they were increasing before March 2020. “I think there are two ways that tips go up,” he told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Friday. “The first one…it happens organically. We have conversations, we hear stories on the news about how little people make in the restaurant industry, and we just feel like the social norm is changing, the social norm is pushing us and we’re upending more. I think that kind of organic growth accelerated before the pandemic came,” he said. Von Massow added that altruism during the pandemic likely served to accelerate this growing pattern of further disruption across Canada. “The other thing that affects tips is the signals that restaurants are sending to us, so we have these nudges going on,” he said. One of the ways restaurants encourage customers to leave higher tips, von Massow explained, is to list suggested tip rates on the menu or program them into the charge terminal, since the majority of customers use a debit or credit card to pay. to pay for their meals. While the usual service tip in a Canadian restaurant is 15 percent or higher, von Massow said a growing number of restaurants across the country are programming their billing machines to ask for tips starting at 18 or even 20 percent. “Psychologically do we want to push the button that’s the lowest amount, or are they trying to push us into that middle amount?” Von Massow said: “And I think, to some extent, we’ve seen these numbers go up as a way to incriminate or push us to throw more.” While tipping in restaurants is a social norm and something most staff rely on as part of their income, von Massow said no one should be pressured to tip more than a standard percentage. If a restaurant is presented with a billing machine that asks for a higher tip percentage than it thinks is appropriate, he said it should ignore the message and enter an adjusted tip percentage. Most billing machines allow custom tip percentages and dollar amounts, he noted. “Tipping is the social norm,” he said. “But it’s totally a choice and you have to be comfortable with what you choose.”
