By Dr. Maurice Yeates, Dr. Tony Hernandez and Stephanie Dizonno

Limited-Service Eating Places (LSEPs) provide 43% of the establishments in the Food Services Sector (NAICS 722) in Canada, and establishments in the group are proliferating at a rate (1.9% per annum) almost twice that of the annual population growth in the country during the latter part of the 2010s Although businesses in the LSEP group are becoming more involved with internet-based marketing and delivery, there is no doubt that ‘bricks and mortar’ establishments continue to be the prime source of sales in the ‘fast-food’ world. This CSCA Research Insight is based on a locational analysis of the CSCA Major Food Services (MFS) Database concerning LSEPs. The CSCA MFS data includes a wide array of information about each establishment that can supplement the Statistics Canada data which provides national counts of establishments whether chain or non-chain. We report on the relationship between LSEPs and market size (population-based) and examine the varying provincial concentrations of leading LSEP conglomerates across Canada.