Can a $10 fee save restaurants from no-shows? Some Montreal chefs are doubtful
At Europea, his Michelin-starred restaurant in downtown Montreal, a no-show is more than an empty chair. With tasting menus priced up to $185 and tables reserved weeks in advance, a last-minute cancellation can mean hundreds in lost revenue and no way to fill the seat.
It's a problem many restaurateurs are all too familiar with. Known as 'ghost reservations,' the trend has worsened in recent years, hurting the profits of restaurants already stretched thin.
Beginning July 17, Quebec will allow restaurants to charge a maximum of $10 per person when no one from a reserved party arrives. To apply the fee, restaurants must meet several conditions, including confirming the reservation between six and 48 hours beforehand and providing a simple way to cancel. The Quebec government has framed the measure as a fair response to the rising no-show phenomenon.
But while the fee is largely seen by many in the industry as a step in the right direction, others say it still falls short.
A $10 fee for a $200 meal?
'At Europea, $10 doesn't even begin to cover what we lose,' Ferrer said.
Guests coming to his restaurant already receive a call the day before and again the day of their reservation, he said. But a large group failing to show up — or even arriving short-handed — remains a big problem.
'It's a small victory,' Ferrer said of the new policy. 'But it won't solve the problem. To do that, we'll have to rethink how reservations work.'
Ferrer believes the system needs to shift entirely, toward prepayment or deposits, like in the hotel or concert world. 'Maybe we offer our $90 menu for $75 if you pay in advance,' he said.
Short-handed groups hit hard
For Damiâo Santos, director of the popular Ferreira Café on Peel St., the main challenge is not necessarily diners failing to show up altogether, but groups arriving short-handed.
'You'll have a booking for 12, and only seven arrive,' he said. 'That's a loss we can't recoup.'
Even then, dealing with the shortfall is complicated, Santos said, as restaurants try not to upset customers. Ferreira tends to approach the issue with flexibility, hearing guests out and rarely enforcing penalties.
'I'd rather lose a few dollars than frustrate a customer who had a death in the family,' he said. 'Sometimes, you just don't know what happened.'
Santos said, for the moment, Ferreira doesn't plan to adopt the new policy, though he acknowledged it might be useful during peak hours or in restaurants with more rigid service structures.
The Association Restauration Québec (ARQ), which represents more than 18,000 establishments across the province, estimates that ghost reservations cost restaurants an average of $49,000 annually. For some, losses can reach nearly $100,000. Cumulatively, the damage is estimated at more than $400 million a year.
Santos said he didn't know the precise impact of no-shows at Europea, but noted the loss was 'significant.'
Most back the fee
According to a Léger poll conducted this year, nearly 70 per cent of Quebecers support the idea of a no-show fee, suggesting customers may be ready to accept what is already common practice in other industries.
'When you go to a concert, you pay in advance,' Ferrer said. 'But in restaurants, we've never been allowed to protect ourselves.'
Ferrer pointed to deeper structural issues: limited parking in downtown Montreal, rampant construction and a fragile restaurant economy where margins are tight and success is never guaranteed.
'We have 25 to 30 in the kitchen, almost twice as many in the dining room,' Ferrer said. 'We're lucky we can organize ourselves. But the chef who's answering the phone while cooking doesn't have that luxury.'
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Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Globe and Mail
European optimism grows
Only in Denmark could a country create a world-class restaurant scene, rack up countless Michelin stars, and monetize culinary tourism to near perfection – and then give the planet an appetite suppressant like Ozempic. But Scandinavia, that wind-carved crown perched atop continental Europe, has always brimmed with irony. Sweden is known as a socialist's paradise, yet overflows with billionaires. Norway, awash in some of the world's largest proven oil reserves, sold 97% electric vehicles in June. And Finland – a land of silence and saunas – now shares the longest NATO border with Russia. Whatever the case, Forstrong's CEO is back in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Yes, the dining scene and the city's almost irritatingly perfect blend of order and bohemia – a place with no bad angles – keep us coming back to the Nordic region. And evidently, we're not alone: The city is packed and tourism is booming across the continent. But beyond the vibe, something else is stirring: European stock markets are ripping. The numbers have surprised nearly everyone. During the first half of the year, European stocks outpaced their American peers by the widest margin on record (in U.S. dollar terms) – a dramatic reversal after more than a decade in the doldrums. And it's not just equities. The euro surged 13% against the dollar over the same period. Notably, European bank stocks – those crucial barometers of liquidity and risk appetite – are leading the way. The region's Stoxx 600 Financials Index posted its strongest first half since 1997, fueled by turnaround plans and a flurry of M&A activity. Germany's Commerzbank is soaring, lifted by strong earnings and takeover interest. Spanish and Italian lenders are also rallying on renewed dealmaking. And despite the surge in prices, bank valuations still trade well below long-term norms. Berlin goes big What's driving all this? The region has seen false dawns before, and the political instability and regulatory thickets that long deterred investors haven't disappeared. Broad equity valuations in Europe remain depressed relative to the U.S. But something more profound is now underway: an unintended consequence of Trump's economic nationalism and growing military isolationism has been to galvanize Europe into fiscal action on a scale not seen since German reunification in 1991. In a defining moment for Germany – and by extension, the EU – policymakers have agreed to break from constitutional budget constraints, clearing the way for a colossal €500 billion infrastructure and defense spending plan. The measures amount to 11.4% of Germany's GDP – enough to stave off recession risks and begin rebalancing the economy away from its heavy reliance on exports. Europe's largest economy is, at long last, committing to borrow and spend massively on defense and infrastructure. And the mood shift is real: Even with plenty of skepticism still in the air, a quiet optimism is starting to take root – palpable everywhere we went. The significance of this shift can't be overstated. The Eurozone's stagnation throughout the 2010s was shaped by two powerful forces: (1) a massive deleveraging cycle in the South following the credit-fueled boom of the 2000s, and (2) self-imposed austerity in the North, which brought on the most contractionary fiscal stance since the Great Depression. Both trends have now run their course – setting the stage for a reflationary boom in the second half of the 2020s. Europe's competitiveness problem But fiscal reform is just the visible tip of a much larger iceberg. The EU's policy consensus is now shifting from a near-obsession with austerity and cost control to a broader focus on innovation and domestic demand resilience. The old orthodoxy manifested in negative interest rates, a chronically weak euro, and fragmented capital markets. It's hardly surprising that while the EU accounts for roughly 17% of global GDP, it hosts only five of the 50 largest companies in the S&P Global 1200. Innovation has been stifled for years. Of course, the elephant in the room is Trump's trade war. Everywhere we went, Europeans expressed bafflement at the fickle, capricious nature of Trump's tariffs (join the club). But the direct economic impact on Europe will be far smaller than in the U.S. The OECD has estimated that the negative GDP impact on the U.S. of 10% U.S. tariffs will be four times greater than the effect on the EU. The reason is simple: While the U.S. is less reliant on trade than Europe, Trump's tariffs would disrupt nearly all U.S. trade – whereas they apply to only roughly 20% of EU exports that go to America. EU policymakers are now strolling through an orchard of low-hanging fruit. Unlike in the U.S., the university sector remains fragmented – along with public support for research and innovation. A lack of capital scale and risk appetite has left EU funding sources far less robust than those in America. A Berlin-based startup founder put it bluntly: 'We love Europe, but if we want to grow fast, we raise funds from U.S. venture capital and scale up in the American market.' Meanwhile, the IMF recently estimated that, despite the creation of a single market, the EU still suffers from major non-tariff barriers – ranging from inconsistent regulations to licensing requirements and other non-harmonized standards. The economic impact? These frictions amount to the equivalent of a 44% tariff on goods and a staggering 110% tariff on services. Former ECB head Mario Draghi, in a scathing report last year, argued that fixing the EU's lagging competitiveness (driven by 'fragmentation, over-regulation, insufficient spending and undue conservatism') would require €750-€800 billion in additional annual investment, equivalent to 4.4%-4.7% of EU GDP. That would push the region's investment-to-GDP ratio to levels not seen since the 1970s. Notably, no one seems to disagree with Draghi. To be sure, Europe still has a long road to competitiveness. But even marginal steps can have a big impact. In the meantime, the economic cycle is already turning and showing up in the data. Credit growth is picking up. Manufacturing is stabilizing. The property sector in the North is showing early signs of life. All of this will help unlock future consumption at a time when real wage growth rose 2.9% year-over-year in Q1 2025, and Eurozone households are still saving 15.2% of disposable income – well above the pre-pandemic average of 12.8%. The bull case is that this cyclical pickup, combined with structural tailwinds, helps shore up growth in the second half of 2025 – before igniting a more powerful turnaround in 2026. Strong markets are already sniffing that out. Investment implications We wrapped up the trip in Athens before venturing into the Aegean Sea to unwind in the Greek islands (pro tip: if you're prone to seasickness, skip the smaller island-hopping boats – they're not as glamorous as they sound.) Fittingly, we were last here 25 years ago (as a young analyst working for Germany's largest bank) – the start of the last major stretch of European equity outperformance over America (2000-09), a period that coincided with the painful unwinding of the U.S. tech bubble. U.S. tech is unlikely to be headed for the same fate this time around. The mega-cap names driving U.S. returns today are posting strong earnings and sitting on piles of cash. But these companies are at that tricky stage of having to live up to the AI hype and deliver a high return on the massive amounts of capital they have been deploying. By contrast, European stocks trade at a 35% discount to their U.S. peers – yet both are expected to deliver around 10% profit growth in 2026. The risk versus reward setup is compelling. The increasingly footloose nature of global capital means that investment themes can now shift quickly. This is already happening. After years of neglect, European equity funds have attracted billions in new inflows since the start of 2025 – a sharp reversal from the outflows of last year. Forstrong's strategies are aligned with this shift, holding active overweights in both European equities and bank stocks. Investors shouldn't ignore this unfolding European Super Trend. As one Swedish executive told us: 'The cycle has finally turned. It's time to catch the wave.' Tyler Mordy, CFA, is CEO and CIO of Forstrong Global Asset Management Inc., engaged in top-down strategy, investment policy, and securities selection. This article first appeared in Forstrong's Insights page. Used with permission. You can reach Tyler by phone at Forstrong Global, toll-free 1-888-419-6715, or by email at tmordy@ Follow Tyler on X at @TylerMordy and @ForstrongGlobal. Disclaimers Content © 2025 by Forstrong Global. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part by any means without prior written permission is prohibited. Used with permission. The foregoing is for general information purposes only and is the opinion of the writer. The author and clients of Forstrong Global Asset Management may have positions in securities mentioned. Performance statistics are calculated from documented actual investment strategies as set by Forstrong's Investment Committee and applied to its portfolios mandates, and are intended to provide an approximation of composite results for separately managed accounts. Actual performance of individual separate accounts may vary with average gross 'composite' performance statistics presented here due to client-specific portfolio differences with respect to size, inflow/outflow history, and inception dates, as well as intra-day market volatilities versus daily closing prices. Performance numbers are net of total ETF expense ratios and custody fees, but before withholding taxes, transaction costs and other investment management and advisor fees. Commissions and management fees may be associated with exchange-traded funds. Please read the prospectus before investing. Securities mentioned carry risk of loss, and no guarantee of performance is made or implied. This information is not intended to provide specific personalized advice including, without limitation, investment, financial, legal, accounting or tax advice.
Vancouver Sun
3 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Why Vancouver restaurants are struggling — and what you can do to help
If Karri Green has a message for Vancouverites, it's this: support your local restaurants. 'Gathering in real life is so important,' said the co-owner and co-founder of Chambar. 'Restaurants are essential to community. We support 27 other sectors. When restaurants go down, the ripple effect is huge — on vendors, suppliers, the local food system. We're also a gateway for students and creatives. Without restaurants, many people can't afford to pursue photography, art, etc. It all connects.' In her 20-plus years in the restaurant industry, Green has never seen things this bad. Costs are up, patronage is down. Restaurants, from fledglings to institutions, have been closing their doors. Stay on top of the latest real estate news and home design trends. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Westcoast Homes will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. In recent months, a string of closures — including long-standing Robson spot Zefferelli's Spaghetti Joint, ramen newcomer Ramen One, and Main Street pizza joint Pizzeria Farina on Main Street — has underscored how dire the situation has become. According to Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCRFA), roughly half of restaurants in the province are now either losing money or just breaking even. 'It's pretty bumpy,' Green added. 'We've always been slower in the summer, but this summer is exceptionally slow.' One major factor is a drop in American visitors. 'A lot of U.S. conferences cancelled,' she said. 'We usually get a ton of small off-site dinners and events when they're in town. And we thought the low Canadian dollar would help — but what we're hearing is that people think Canadians hate them and they're not welcome.' That slowdown is hitting everyone from fine dining to fast casual. 'We never recovered from the pandemic crisis,' said Tostenson. 'Just as things were starting to look up, inflation and loan repayments hit. 'Our costs went up 20 per cent. We only raised prices by 13,' he added. 'People just aren't going to pay $30 for a hamburger. We have to stay appealing without going broke.' J-C Poirier, owner and exec chef at Michelin-starred St. Lawrence, is seeing the downturn too. 'Weekends are still strong — people want to go out — but weekdays are definitely harder than they were two years ago. That reflects the economy. People have less money to spend, and when that happens, restaurants are the first place they cut.' The mounting pressure isn't just about food prices. 'Insurance has nearly doubled since pre-COVID. Food costs have gone crazy,' said Green. 'And we can't pass all of that on to customers.' She also flagged a hidden burden: 'When individuals stopped paying MSP, businesses picked it up. For restaurants, which have a lot of employees for the amount of revenue we generate, that's huge. We pay over $50,000 a year in this health tax.' For restaurateur and Chef's Table marketing co-chair Robert Belcham, the issue is systemic. 'The biggest issue is always money. Labour is expensive and getting more so every day. Opening a restaurant is a massive financial risk — from buying plates to hiring architects and leasing space.' That burden is worsened by bureaucracy. 'It's costly when you've got a liquor inspector, WorkSafe, fire, health, and labour relations inspectors — all in one week,' said Tostenson. 'We're not asking to be unregulated. We're asking not to be over-managed.' Belcham cites a local chef's efforts to turn a former Indian restaurant into a new Thai establishment. 'He said that it took forever just to get a permit to change out kitchen equipment — not even construction. He was in the same queue as someone building a shed. That kind of bureaucracy costs time and money — and we're paying lease while waiting.' Staffing shortages are another major challenge. 'Many restaurants are reducing hours or closing certain days,' said Tostenson. 'Not for lack of customers, but because they don't have kitchen staff. 'For every three people retiring in B.C., we're only replacing two. Immigration has to fill that gap.' Belcham adds: 'There's a whole section of the labour pool dedicated to culinary work, but it's not supported by government, policy, or even by ourselves. We need a fundamental shift in how we run things.' Changing dining habits are also part of the story. 'There's no one downtown. People aren't going out after work for drinks, dinner, or late-night events,' said Green. Meanwhile, fine dining has become a luxury. 'Fine dining is harder than casual dining right now,' said Poirier. 'People are more inclined to go somewhere affordable and faster — where they don't have to sit for two and a half hours.' Opening something new downtown is almost out of the question for independents. 'Downtown rents are just atrocious,' said Poirier, whose opened St. Lawrence in Railtown eight years ago. Instead, he chose Fraser Street for his latest venture, Chez Céline. 'There are a lot of families here, and I wanted to give them a great place for French bistro food,' he said. 'Chez Céline is more casual than St. Lawrence — accessible, affordable, and still really good.' The Michelin Guide's arrival in Vancouver was big news, but the bump is wearing off. 'There was excitement at first, but now people care less,' Poirier said. 'In Europe, people embrace that experience. Here, I think people want good food and good value, without being overly challenged.' With St. Lawrence, he's achieved an enviable distinction. 'It's probably the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in the world. We charge $125 for the full experience. I do it because I want people to be able to experience and enjoy it.' Belcham says the broader industry needs to find its voice. 'Restaurants haven't done a great job of advocating for themselves. Other industries band together to make things better. In the food business, we don't.' He sees no quick fix. 'This isn't a simple story. It's a multi-year, multi-level, deeply systemic problem in the restaurant business. It can't be easily fixed.' Green agrees. 'This feels like the 2008 crash — maybe worse,' she said. 'The biggest hit during COVID was reopening and then being forced to close again. Just gearing up cost us $140,000 — and then we had to shut down. That was brutal.' Beyond economics, she emphasized the social and cultural importance of restaurants. 'Restaurants are these liminal spaces,' Green said. 'They're not home, and they're not work — they're the in-between. That's where we connect. That's where community happens.' Her message remains simple. 'Support what you want to exist,' she urged. 'Don't wait. Spend your money at the places you love.'
CTV News
16-07-2025
- CTV News
Stellantis discontinues hydrogen fuel cell program and van production
The Stellantis sign is seen outside the Chrysler Technology Center, Jan. 19, 2021, in Auburn Hills, Mich. Stellantis on April 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File) Carmaker Stellantis said on Wednesday it would discontinue its hydrogen fuel cell technology program and no longer launch hydrogen-powered vehicles this year, raising questions about the future of hydrogen subsidiary Symbio. The group said the decision was due to the limited availability of hydrogen refueling infrastructure, high capital requirements and the need for stronger purchase incentives for customers. 'The hydrogen market remains a niche segment, with no prospects of mid-term economic sustainability,' Jean-Philippe Imparato, chief operating officer for enlarged Europe, said in a statement. Car parts suppliers Michelin and Forvia said Stellantis' decision came as a surprise and would have 'serious operational and financial consequences' for Symbio, a joint venture in which Stellantis acquired a stake in 2023. Stellantis is its main customer, accounting for nearly 80% of Symbio's business volume, said Forvia. 'Michelin's primary concern lies with the impact this will have on Symbio's employees, both in France and abroad,' the tyremaker said in a statement. Symbio employs more than 650 people, according to its website. It opened a gigafactory in eastern France in 2023 as well as a new site in California. Stellantis said it has initiated discussions with Symbio shareholders to evaluate the current market consequences and to preserve the best interests of the joint venture, in line with their respective obligations. Imparato said the automaker had to 'make clear and responsible choices to ensure our competitiveness and meet the expectations of our customers with our electric and hybrid passenger and light commercial vehicles offensive.' The group said it did not anticipate the adoption of hydrogen cell vans before the end of the decade. Serial production of Stellantis' new Pro One range was scheduled to start in the summer in Hordain, in France, and Gliwice, in Poland. The decision will not affect staffing at Stellantis production sites, the group said. It said all research and development activities focused on the hydrogen technology would be redirected to other projects. (Reporting by Giulia Segreti, additional reporting by by Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk and Dominique Patton in Paris; Editing by Cristina Carlevaro, Tomasz Janowski and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
