Accommodation and food services (NAICS 72): Quebec, 2025

Workforce characteristics

Slightly more women (116,000) than men (110,700) work in accommodation and food services, accounting for almost 51.2% of the workforce. This proportion is higher than in all industries, where women occupy an average of 47.5% of jobs.

There is a high proportion of young people aged 15 to 24 in the industry. In fact, 47.4% of workers are under 25, compared to 13.3% in all industries. This strong presence of 15- to 24-year-olds is particularly pronounced in food services, with a 51.1% share of employment, compared to 23.5% in accommodation services.

Reflecting the young age of the workforce and the "student job" nature of these jobs, full-time employment, at 49.4%, is proportionately much lower than in all industries, where this share is 81.7%.

The proportion of workers aged 55 and over is 12.5%, which is lower than for the overall Quebec workforce (21.7%). This under-representation is mainly due to their low proportion in the food services sector, where they account for just 10.8% of the workforce. However, there is a higher percentage of them (23.6%) in the accommodation sector.

Among workers aged 25 to 54, the percentage is lower in accommodation and food services (40.1%), whereas this age group represents 65.0% of workers in Quebec.

The sector's workforce is made up almost entirely of employees (94.4%), and self-employed workers account for just 5.6% of the workforce. This proportion is half that of all the province's industries, where self-employed workers account for 11.1% of employment.

The workforce in this industry is generally poorly educated, largely due to its youth. Almost a quarter of the workforce (23.7%) has no diplomas, which is more than double the share observed in the province's workforce as a whole (9.4%). One third of workers (32.5%) in the industry have only a high school diploma, again a much higher proportion than for the workforce as a whole (17.4%). This is because many workers are young people who are still in school. Conversely, the proportion of university graduates is 12.3%, compared to 31.9% for all industries.

Generally speaking, people working in accommodation services have a higher level of education than those working in food services. In fact, 56.4% have a post-secondary certificate, diploma or university degree, compared to 41.9% in food services.

After several years of sustained growth, which was driven by the increase in household disposable income, the accommodation and food services sector got a major shock in 2020. The pandemic and public health measures led to a loss of around 74,500 jobs, and employment was down by 28.5%.

A recovery began in 2022, which was driven by the gradual lifting of restrictions and the return of tourism demand. However, despite a faster recovery in the gross domestic product (GDP) and hours worked, employment increased at a slower pace. In 2024, the sector still accounted for around 19,000 fewer jobs than in 2019, which represents a 7.3% decline.

The continuation of the gap between GDP and job growth, even though it was temporarily reduced during the public health crisis, suggests a structural change in this industry's labour market. While it began before the pandemic, this change may be due to productivity gains, the automation of some tasks and business model adaptation, which helped increase business volume, while reducing the overall labour demand.

Therefore, the reorganization of the sector combined with the influx of new workers, particularly from immigration, helped mitigate the labour shortage. This limited job opportunities, especially for young people, who have a significant share of the positions in this sector.

In the food services sector, sales continued to recover in 2024 with 3.1% growth, although it was more moderate than in 2023 (12.2%) in the context of ongoing food inflation. All the segments posted growth, except for drinking places, in which sales dropped by 2.8%. Limited-service eating places saw their share of the sector increase, jumping from 37% to 42% of sales between 2019 and 2024, whereas the share of full-service restaurants dropped from 50% to 46%, which reflects a change in consumption patterns at a time of budgetary constraints.

In addition, rising costs, whether it involves food, rent, salaries or insurance, put a lot of pressure on profit margins for restaurateurs. There are also debts that were accumulated during the pandemic, which continue to weaken the financial stability of many establishments. According to data from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, 440 restaurants and drinking places declared bankruptcy in Quebec in 2024, which is an 11.1% increase compared to 2023. Several of these bankruptcies follow repayment requests for emergency loans, which were given during the pandemic. Quebec is the most affected province, which singlehandedly accounted for 63.8% of bankruptcies in Canada's food services sector.

The accommodation sub-sector is benefitting from sustained tourism demand, which is driven by the recovery in international, business and domestic tourism. In 2024, the combined revenues from commercial accommodations and short-term rentals reached nearly $4.3 billion, exceeding 2019 levels for the third consecutive year. This performance is mainly due to higher occupancy rates, but above all the average rental price at a time of continuous inflation.

In recent years, travellers' accommodation preferences have changed. After having peaked at 34.9% in 2020, the proportion of short-term rentals between individuals, including apartment, cottage and home rentals through digital platforms, has decreased steadily to 18.1% in 2024 to the benefit of commercial accommodations. This decline can be explained in particular by stricter regulations aimed at addressing illegal tourist accommodations and the gradual return of customers to traditional hotels, which are perceived as providing more guarantees in terms of quality, security and services.

Since 2022, the accommodation and food services sector has had higher job growth than that of all industries, which has been supported by the post-pandemic recovery. This trend should continue throughout the 2025-2027 forecast horizon, but at a much slower pace.

Tourism is contributing significantly to this dynamic. Despite inflation and economic uncertainty, travel is still important for many Quebecers, who continue to spend a portion of their discretionary budget. However, their behaviour is changing. Even though many people are choosing local trips and appear to be more likely to make compromises to limit their spending, there is still a high personal debt ratio. This trend is reinforced by the travel boycott on the United States, which many Canadians joined in the context of the trade war. This redirects the flow of tourists to local destinations and boosts domestic tourism. In addition, the spike in international arrivals, particularly from France, is an encouraging sign for the tourism industry and especially with a favourable exchange rate. However, the outlook for American visitors remains uncertain due to ongoing tensions.

In the food services sub-sector, even though there are still customers, their habits are changing. Although food inflation slowed in 2024, consumers are nevertheless trying to limit their spending, but without completely giving up the experience of going out. They are ordering fewer dishes, reducing their alcohol consumption and prefer more affordable options, such as take-out meals, breakfasts or fast-food counters.

Furthermore, strong population growth in the last two years, which was mainly driven by immigration, particularly temporary immigration, in urban centres, has had a positive impact on the sector, by increasing the clientele, diversifying accommodation and food services needs and mitigating the labour shortage.

On the other hand, recent immigration restrictions could have an impact on the food services sector, particularly in the regions, where many establishments rely on international recruitment to meet their staffing needs. A decrease in the number of temporary workers could exacerbate recruitment difficulties in a sector that is already facing labour issues. This could lead to a spike in vacancies, particularly outside of major urban centres, despite a return to levels that are comparable to those before the pandemic.

In this context, new job opportunities could open up for young workers, despite an overall decline in hiring. The reorganization of the sector to reduce operating costs is an additional obstacle to job growth. To ensure profitability with a limited workforce, many companies are making operational adjustments, such as reducing opening hours, spacing out maintenance work or simplifying their services.

Moreover, the further integration of technology into hotel processes is changing the client experience while reducing labour needs. The automation of check-in and check-out procedures, the use of robots for room service and voice assistants for concierge services and the integration of virtual reality into online applications illustrate the transition towards more efficient management.

Finally, issues related to working conditions, mainly in the hotel industry, are still concerning. Employees are denouncing the growing gap between inflation and wage increases, which affects their purchasing power. This situation and working conditions that are considered to be poor are driving union demands and could lead to short-term disruptions in the sector, such as strikes or prolonged negotiations.

In this context, the accommodation and food services sector is expected to have moderate job growth, which will remain above the average for Quebec industries.

For further information

Appendix

Table A1
Geographic Distribution of Employment and Employment Outlook in Quebec, average 2022-2024

Table A2
Workforce Characteristics in Quebec, average 2022-2024