Canadian Restaurants See a 24% Jump in Sales on Thanksgiving Monday

For Canadian operators, the decision to keep your restaurant open during Thanksgiving is certainly not an easy one. On one hand, there’s the risks of experiencing a slower day and the challenges of finding staff to work the holiday. On the other, it’s a chance to boost sales and attract new customers, especially if your competitors choose to close for the holiday. 

So are the operators who decide to close their restaurants during Thanksgiving weekend really missing out or making the smarter call? To find out, we pulled sales data from roughly 3,600 TouchBistro restaurants in Canada over the Thanksgiving weekend to provide insights on holiday sales and determine whether staying open was worth the payoff.

Key Takeaways

• Canadian restaurants that stayed open on Thanksgiving Monday earned about 24% more than a normal Monday
• The average check was about 3% higher during Thanksgiving weekend than a normal weekend for Canadian restaurants
• Sales grew about 3% compared to Thanksgiving 2025

2026 Canadian Thanksgiving Restaurant Sales Data 

Our data revealed a 24% jump in sales on Thanksgiving Monday, proving that staying open paid off for Canadian restaurants – especially for those open earlier in the day. The reason for this jump? This increase may have been due to the fact that the cost of preparing food at home has gone up by 10% due the increase in food prices, specifically Turkey, according to CTV News. As a result, many Canadians chose to spend their dollars eating out this holiday Monday, rather than cooking up a meal at home.

Sales also grew by 3% compared to last year, however, the number of transactions remained relatively flat and only grew by 0.1%. Average check size did grow by 2.7%, however some of this growth may be due to the increase in menu prices that occurred throughout the year. In fact, according to our 2026 Canadian State of Restaurants Report, 71% of Canadian operators raised menu prices in the past year.

Thanksgiving Monday: The Weekend’s Top Opportunity

About 65% of TouchBistro restaurants we examined remained open for Thanksgiving Monday, which proved to be an advantage, as those restaurants experienced the best Monday of the fall season. When compared to a typical Monday, revenue was up 24%, with 9% more transactions and checks 14% larger. 

Thanksgiving Monday was also the only day of the weekend with more customer visits than last year (up by 2.5%) and sales on this day grew faster year-over-year (5.2% more than any other day). There is a clear demand for restaurants to be open on Thanksgiving Monday, so those who do choose to remain open have the opportunity to capitalize on demand.

Victoria, BC Sees the Biggest Thanksgiving Boost

While many restaurants across major Canadian cities, including Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver, saw a slight increase in revenue compared to normal fall weekends, Victoria B.C. saw the biggest increase at 5%. The popular long-weekend destination also grew the fastest among the major markets compared to last Thanksgiving by 6.6%. 

The Thanksgiving Dining Shift: Convenience Leads as Guests Gather at Home

With an increase in overall spending on Thanksgiving Monday with larger check sizes and more transactions, there was also a shift in the role restaurants play for Canadians during the Thanksgiving holiday. Here’s how the Thanksgiving weekend played out for the various restaurant channels versus a normal weekend:

• Quick service restaurants: Sales were up 4% with nearly normal traffic and 6% bigger orders – think family-sized pickup runs. Quick service restaurants were also the most likely to have closed, so the ones that remained open did especially well.
• Takeout: Sales were up 4% with 6% bigger baskets.
• Online ordering for pickup: Sales were up 5%.
• Bar tabs: Sales down by 7%, with 13% fewer bar tabs, emphasizing the Saturday night bar crowd stays in on the big Thanksgiving weekend.
• Delivery: Sales down by 7%. A clear contrast with pickup, proving that on Thanksgiving diners generally choose to drive to collect their orders, rather than have them delivered.

Canadians Dined Earlier

A shift in dining habits that restaurants witnessed was that Canadians who did choose to go out dined out earlier in the day. In fact, the best performing window for restaurants was late morning between 10 to 11 a.m., which was up by 8% compared to a normal weekend and midday held up on bigger checks. Holiday-weekend brunch remains the fastest-growing time of day year over year, with 7% more visits than last Thanksgiving. On the other hand, the usual evening peak flattened for restaurants, with the 7 to 10 p.m. window revenue running 7-11% below a normal weekend. 

Tipping Over Thanksgiving Weekend Held Steady

About 47% of payments carried a tip during Thanksgiving weekend sales, with tippers giving about 21% – marginally up year over year. Broken down by venue type, tipping at full service restaurants rose slightly, while tipping at quick service restaurants fell slightly.

Interestingly, Thanksgiving Monday was the lightest tipping day of the weekend. But with revenue up by 24% overall, servers who worked the holiday still took home roughly 15% more in tips than a normal Monday.

It’s clear that restaurants continue to play an important role in the celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday for Canadians, and the venues that choose to stay open have a clear advantage over their competition who close on Thanksgiving. 

Looking for Thanksgiving marketing ideas to win over guests next year or for more insights and actionable strategies straight from other Canadian operators? Check out our Canadian State of Restaurants Report.

_{Disclaimer: This information is based on sales data from roughly 3,600 TouchBistro restaurant venues across Canada, covering full and quick service restaurants. The insights pulled were based on comparing Friday October 9 – Monday October 12, 2026 against two baselines: Thanksgiving weekend 2025 (Oct 10–13, the same Friday-to-Monday) and the four normal Friday-to-Monday weekends before the holiday (mid-September to early October 2026).}

by Megan Lee

Megan is the Content Marketing Specialist at TouchBistro, where she uses her passion for food to write about the restaurant industry. She’s a big “foodie” at heart, and you can always find her enjoying a delicious meal at a restaurant with friends and family, or cooking one up at home. She also loves relaxing with a good book and making progress at the gym.

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