Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs
Staff at the Erika Jane Restaurant in Kelowna, B.C., were getting ready for one of their busiest nights of the year Friday morning.
“Valentine’s Day, without question, more people will come through our doors than any other,” said David Bekkering, Erika Jane’s managing partner.The love, however, the federal government intended to show restaurants with its GST holiday break didn’t seem to materialize.“We just didn’t see an uptick in sales as a direct result of not paying GST because at the end of the day, we are still paying GST on alcohol,” Bekkering said.At the nearby Tran Station Pub, the operators said they didn’t benefit much, either.“The hours that we spent on programing and doing it didn’t have an impact on us in a positive way,” said Train Station owner Rhonda Lindsay. The GST break on restaurant meals went into effect on Dec. 15; it concludes on Feb. 15.“Five per cent in this market during December and January didn’t move the needle at all,” said Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association.However, according to Restaurants Canada, the tax break on restaurant meals did have somewhat of an impact overall, nationally.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
The organization said restaurant transactions increased by 7.6 per cent during the two-month period.“I think the point here is we have a five per cent tax and Ontario is 13 per cent and the Maritimes 15 per cent,” Tostenson told Global News. “So in B.C., I think we need a bit of a different prescription.” Tostenson suggested an expansion of things like “Dine Out or Dine Around” programs, which offer discounted meals during the slow winter months.
He added it’s especially important with looming US tariffs and more economic uncertainty.“A program that matches suppliers, producers, restaurants…hospitality throughout British Columbia and have, if you will, an extended protracted hospitality party and make sure we keep the confidence of B.C. people.” Tostenson said. “That will help us more than a tax decrease at this point.”Many restaurants are doing what they can to offer incentives to get people through the doors.“We’re certainly offering up things we may not have in the past,” said Bekkering. “Half-priced wines, two-dollar oyster nights, all these different things.”The incentives are an effort to prevent the tough economic market from swallowing up any more B.C. restaurants, which have had to close due to financial constraints.“We just thank the community for their support,” Lindsay said. “That is why we are still here.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
