This article was featured in Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine.
As labour shortages and rising costs squeeze margins, Canadian operators are turning to technology to streamline operations, enhance guest experiences, and stay competitive.
The pressures facing Canadian restaurants in 2026 are forcing operators to re-think how they run their businesses. Labour shortages, rising costs and shifting customer expectations are converging, and the technology tools that once represented optional upgrades are now essential to staying competitive.
“One of the biggest challenges out there right now is labour,” says Tyler Schwarz, managing director of Rational Canada. “There are still plenty of young people who are looking for work, but a lot of people don’t want to work in kitchens.”
The labour crunch is compounded by mounting expenses. According to Schwarz, food inflation and energy costs are both outpacing general inflation, with food prices tracking above three per cent while overall inflation hovers around two per cent.
“All of that combined is leading to a reduction in margins, which is pressuring restaurants to make money and succeed at the end of the day,” Schwarz says.
As restaurants raise menu prices to protect margins, customer expectations in other industries have also raised the bar in tandem. Digital experiences rise in tandem with dine-in expectations.
The pandemic accelerated a transformation that was already underway. “Post-COVID was the real moment where we started seeing the staff shortages. We started seeing rising costs,” says Karisa Marra, head of Sales at Square.
But what began as a crisis has evolved into a permanent shift in dining. During COVID, customers had a little more understanding. “But now enough time has passed that customer expectations are also rising—higher than the cost of going out has ever been before, especially in Canada,” Marra adds.
The pandemic forced restaurants to close the gap that had persisted for years. “In terms of revenue generator, plus a saver of expenses and overhead,” Marra acknowledges. But in Canada, adoption of technology lagged versus some other countries.
“With the impressive development of tooling, plus COVID really putting on a lot of pressure, Canadian restaurant owners have felt a lot of pressure to adopt technology over some other countries,” Marra says.
Experts say the pandemic forced the imperative to evolve. “All of these big macro dynamics—the increase in cost of ingredients, the lack of great staff, the reality of how hard it is to hire and train people now, all those things are coming together in a way that forces operators to think: Okay, something has to give. I have to do something,” says Marra.
AI-DRIVEN PERSONALIZATION AND PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS
Artificial intelligence is emerging as one of the most transformative technologies in restaurant operations, helping businesses make smarter decisions.
“We view AI like a thought partner for the restaurant that can help them be strategic about their business,” says Karisa Marra, head of Sales at Square.
On the guest experience side, AI is enabling personalization at scale. “One of the ways we like recommendations,” explains Adoniram Sides, SVP of Hospitality at Lightspeed. “When customers order online, we’ll make a recommendation asking intuitive questions about sides and customizations that a trained server would typically handle.”
Behind the scenes, AI is changing how restaurateurs understand their business performance. “We’re integrating it into all of our reporting, so restaurants can get faster insights into what’s happening,” Marra says.
Lightspeed has developed sophisticated learning platforms. “We have an entire algorithm that reflects changing performance-enabled platform that compares your performance relative to other restaurants,” Sides explains.
“We’ve launched a voice AI tool that we just launched,” Marra says. “It’s not a staff member that’s taking the order call through to AI and it’s pushing the order right through to the restaurant.”
The system can anticipate modifiers and add-ons based on ordering patterns.
MOBILE AND CONTACTLESS ORDERING
The ability to order and pay from phones is now a baseline expectation for Canadian diners, not an added convenience.
“What started as a pandemic workaround has become standard practice for Canadian restaurants,” says Karisa Marra, head of Sales at Square.
“Online ordering used to be one of these nice-to-have things, but now it’s an absolute must-have,” Marra says. “We’re not there at all. We’ve seen restaurants where 50 per cent of their revenue is fully from guest preferences.”
Younger diners expect to be able to pay with their phone and walk out. “We’ve been able to pay with their phone diners expect to be able to pay with their phone and walk out,” Sides says.
“For younger folks who just don’t want to talk to anybody,” Marra says.
In an environment where costs are rising and delivering them cold carries real consequences, operators are protecting both operations and guest experience.
INTEGRATED POS AND DATA ECOSYSTEMS
When margins are tight and decisions need to happen in real time, disconnected systems leave operators flying blind.
“If you can’t see what’s happening in real time, you’re probably reacting too late,” says Adoniram Sides, SVP of Hospitality at Lightspeed.
Integrated point-of-sale platforms and data ecosystems are eliminating those gaps, giving owners comprehensive visibility into their operations.
“Our point of act on insights immediately,” Sides says. “That granularity extends to customer behaviour.”
Understanding customer preferences enables operators to personalize service. “It’s really all about understanding how they like to buy, Marra says, or what experience they like to have.”
Integration helps restaurateurs become smarter. “These integrated solutions allow you to understand what’s selling and which items are not selling, so you can be more thoughtful about what you’re purchasing,” Marra says.
CYBERSECURITY ADVANCEMENTS
As restaurants adopt digital tools at an accelerating pace, cybersecurity is evolving to meet the threats.
“Restaurants adopt digital tools — POS systems, online ordering, delivery apps — attackers love that,” says Trish Dyl, director of Cybersecurity Catalyst & International Programs at Rogers.
Leading vendors are embedding security measures. “We’re running in the background without requiring restaurant owners to become cybersecurity experts,” Marra says.
Advanced permission-management tools allow operators to control access precisely.
“Don’t be shy about asking basic questions: Do you use MFA? How quickly do you patch vulnerabilities? How often is your system breached?” Dyl emphasizes.
KITCHEN AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS
While much of the technology conversation focuses on front-of-house solutions, some of the most impactful innovations are happening in the kitchen.
Intelligent cooking equipment helps simplify the process for operators struggling with labour shortages.
“It really helps to simplify cutting the process,” says Tyler Schwarz, managing director of Rational Canada. “It can really make a lot simpler for the operator to utilize.”
Multi-functional equipment reduces kitchen footprint. “Between the Combi and the iVario, you do about 90 per cent of what you need in reduced space,” Schwarz says.
The technology is moving toward predictive maintenance. Systems alert operators when components are wearing or issues are impending.
Energy optimization delivers savings. “Our equipment heats up within seconds,” Schwarz notes.
Schwarz sees robotics entering commercial kitchens. “It’s going to be both a menu developer and a programmer,” he says.
The evolution of kitchen technology shows no signs of slowing, working alongside intelligent equipment to address labour shortages while improving consistency and efficiency.