---
title: "72% of Ontario Tipped Workers Say Their Tips Fell Over Two…"
canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/canada-tipping-recession-ontario-72-percent-2026"
language: "en"
author: "drashtigarach"
published: "2026-10-07T08:13:37.000Z"
modified: "2026-10-07T08:41:38.500Z"
---

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# 72% of Ontario Tipped Workers Say Their Tips Fell Over Two Years, Here Is What Servers Can Do

72% of Ontario tipped workers say tips fell, in a survey of 250 tipped respondents. See the small-sample caveat, the $17.95 wage and Ontario tip rules.

[![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach)

[October 7, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/10)14 min read

![A polished wooden restaurant bar counter with plates, wine glasses and a card payment terminal](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/final-10484.jpg)

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In a survey of 506 hospitality workers, [67% of tipped workers answered that tip amounts had decreased over the past two years, up sharply from 39% in 2024](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), and in Actual's survey Ontario workers describe the sharpest decline, with [72% saying tips have gone down, the highest of any province](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us). The findings come from [a national look by Actual, a tip management and hospitality financial operations company](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), with the survey [conducted by Angus Reid and fielded in August 2026](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us). For [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) readers who wait tables, tend bar or work a hotel floor, the survey is only half the story. The other half is Ontario's own rulebook, which sets [the minimum wage](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage) and decides [who may take part in your tips and how they must be paid](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). Here is what the numbers show, how far they can be trusted, and what the law already gives you.

## What Did Actual's National Tipping Survey Find?

The study was released [in Toronto on October 5, 2026 through a Business Wire release](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), and it covers front-line servers, back-of-house staff, managers and owners. The headline is the two-year decline. [Sixty-seven percent of tipped workers say the amount they receive in tips has decreased over the past two years](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), compared with [39% in 2024](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

[Nearly half of tipped workers, 43%, say they rely on tips to cover essential expenses like rent, groceries, and bills](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), and that share reaches [51% each in B.C. and Atlantic Canada](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

[76% of workers say tipping incentivizes better service, and just 6% say it hurts service quality](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), while [62% believe tips should be tied to quality of service rather than the total bill](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/). That view was held by [67% of female workers and 57% of male workers](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

[Sixty-two percent of tipped workers say faster access to their tips, such as same-day payouts, would meaningfully improve their financial situation](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), rising to [69% in Ontario](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

> Tipping is declining at the exact moment hospitality workers need it most, Actual CEO and co-founder Afshin Mousavian said in [the Business Wire release](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

## How Big Is the Survey, and How Much Weight Can the Ontario Figure Carry?

The full sample is [506 Canadian adults who currently work in the hospitality industry, drawn from Angus Reid's survey pool](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us). A probability sample of that size would carry a [margin of error of +/-4.36 percentage points, 19 times out of 20](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), a figure given [for comparison purposes only](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

The tip questions are narrower. They rest on [the subset of 250 respondents who receive tips as part of their compensation](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), where the comparable margin is [+/-6.20 percentage points, 19 times out of 20](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us).

The Ontario result of [72%](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/) is a slice of that tipped group. The Ontario respondent count is not printed in [the release](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/) or on [Actual's summary page](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), so the province ranking is a direction, not a precise measure. The full province breakdown sits behind [a download form on the Actual study page](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us).

It also matters who ran the study. Actual sells [tip pooling, instant payouts and compliance tools to hospitality businesses](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), and the study page itself makes the case for [digital tip payments that remove the manual cash handling entirely](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us). The survey was [conducted online by Angus Reid on behalf of Actual](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), but the framing comes from a company with a product in this market.

## How Do Ontario's Results Compare With Other Provinces?

Ontario had the largest share of tipped workers saying tips declined in Actual's survey, at [72%, the highest of any province](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/). It also sits above the national figure of [62% on faster payouts](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), at [69% in Ontario](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

Other provinces stand out elsewhere. Workers in B.C. and Atlantic Canada lean on tips most for essentials, at [51% each](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/). Awareness of how tips are divided is strongest in [Atlantic Canada (96%), and lowest in Quebec (73%)](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

Quebec stands out on service-based tipping, with [only 50% of workers agreeing that tipping should reflect service quality, the lowest of any province](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us). In Quebec, any merchant that suggests tip amounts must calculate percentages [on the price before GST and QST, offer only the suggested amounts plus an option for consumers to set their own amount, and present the options in a consistent manner, without inciting the consumer to select one choice over another](https://www.opc.gouv.qc.ca/en/consumer/topic/price-discount/tips). Those rules [took effect May 7, 2025](https://www.moneysense.ca/spend/canada-tipping-culture-survey/), and the study links that province's lower score to them, MoneySense reports.

## What Is the Minimum Wage for Servers in Ontario Now?

Ontario servers [no longer have a separate liquor server rate](https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-ix-minimum-wage), so most adult servers fall under the general minimum wage of [$17.95 an hour for October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage), up from [$17.60](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage) the year before. Students under 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session, or who work during a school break or summer holidays, can be paid the [student rate of $16.90 an hour](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage).

The [Build Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2021 eliminated a class of employees to whom a special minimum wage rate previously applied](https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-ix-minimum-wage), namely employees who, as a regular part of their employment, serve liquor directly to customers, guests, members or patrons in premises for which a licence or permit has been issued under the Liquor Licence Act and who regularly receive tips or other gratuities. That special rate was [$12.55 an hour from October 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021](https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-ix-minimum-wage), and [as of January 1, 2022](https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-ix-minimum-wage) those workers are entitled to the general rate instead.

Under the Employment Standards Act, tips [are not included when calculating minimum wage](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), or termination pay, severance pay, vacation pay, public holiday pay and the regular rate used for overtime, so [tips cannot be counted toward the minimum wage your employer owes](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).

A liquor server on [$17.95 an hour who works two hours and is sent home is owed a total payment of $53.85](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage) under the three-hour rule, which applies to employees who regularly work more than three hours a day and [does not apply to employees whose regular shift is three hours or less, or in some cases where the cause was beyond the employer's control](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage). Compliance is checked [on a pay period basis](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage), and the rate is [subject to annual indexation based on the rate of inflation](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage).

## Who Is Allowed to Keep or Take Your Tips in Ontario?

The starting rule is plain. An employer [generally cannot withhold, make deductions from, or make an employee return their tips or other gratuities, except as permitted by the Employment Standards Act](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). That includes deductions for [spillage, breakage, losses and damage](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).

The legal definition of a tip excludes a portion of the credit card processing fee charged to the employer, equal to the greater of [the tip multiplied by the percentage charged by the credit card company for processing the payment, or the tip multiplied by 1.5%](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). So that portion of a card tip [falls outside the definition of a tip or other gratuity](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). Debit card fees and any other processing fees [are not permitted](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities) as deductions from tips.

Only three kinds of deductions are allowed, namely [statutory deductions, court orders and tip pooling](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). Statutory deductions most often mean [income taxes, employment insurance premiums and Canada Pension Plan contributions](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).

If an employer is found to have wrongly kept tips, the amount is [considered a debt owing by the employer to the employee and is enforceable under the ESA as if it were wages owing](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).

> An employee cannot contract out of or waive this employment standard, even if the employee agrees to do so in writing or verbally, [Ontario's tips guide](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities) says of the right to keep tips.

## How and When Must Ontario Employers Pay Out Tips?

Since [June 21, 2024](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), employers must pay tips by cash, cheque or direct deposit, which includes Interac e-Transfer. With direct deposit, [the account must be selected by the employee](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), it must be in the employee's name, and nobody else can access it unless the employee allows it.

Timing is looser, as there is [no requirement under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 for employers to establish a regular period for distributing tips](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). However, failing to pass tips on [within a reasonable time frame may constitute the withholding of those tips](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), and the length of and reason for a delay are relevant factors.

Card tips have to be collected, divided under the shift's pooling structure and paid out, and in a lot of restaurants that process still runs on spreadsheets, [according to Actual, which sells digital tip payouts](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us). Owners and managers in the survey were even keener on faster payouts, at [72%, than front-line workers at 68%](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us).

## How Does Tip Pooling Work Under Ontario Rules?

A tip pool lets an employer [withhold or make deductions from an employee's tips if the amount collected will be redistributed among some, or all, of the employees at the workplace](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). Pool terms [may be written or oral](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), employers do not need employees' agreement to take pool deductions from their tips, and joining a pool could be a condition of employment.

Pool money can only come from tips. A server with $500 in sales but no tips owes [$0 to the pool because tip pooling amounts cannot come from any source other than tips](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).

Managers [generally may participate in tip pooling arrangements if their employers' policy permits them to do so](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). An employer can share in a pool only if it is a sole proprietor, partner, director or shareholder and [regularly performs to a substantial degree the same work](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities) as staff who share in it, or as tipped workers at other employers in the same industry.

Since [June 21, 2024](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), an employer with such a policy must post a copy where employees are likely to see it, and keep each posted policy [for three years after the policy is no longer in effect](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). One gap is worth knowing. The [terms of a tip pool cannot be enforced under the ESA](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), and only the worker whose tips were withheld or deducted can have an order issued under the ESA.

## How Much Do Tips Shape Whether People Stay in Hospitality?

[Sixty-one percent of tipped workers say tip income has influenced their decision to stay in hospitality](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), a figure that is [74% among front-line workers, just 35% among back-of-house staff and 73% among workers under 35](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

[Only 15% of workers believe customers understand the financial impact of not tipping, and 41% say customers understand little to nothing at all](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

[90% of workers say they're aware of how tips are divided at their own workplace, up from 79% in 2024](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/). Support for clear tip division policies stands at [85%, a slight dip from 91% in 2024](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), weakest in [Quebec (67%) and strongest in B.C. (90%)](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

## What Are Customers and Restaurant Operators Reporting?

[93% of respondents said they're annoyed by tip prompts at self-serve locations in a February 2026 Angus Reid survey commissioned by H&R Block Canada](https://www.moneysense.ca/spend/canada-tipping-culture-survey/), and [67% said they select no tip more often than they did a year earlier](https://www.moneysense.ca/spend/canada-tipping-culture-survey/). Even [25 to 30 per cent prompts have popped up in everyday transactions](https://dailyhive.com/canada/state-of-tipping-canada-2026-report), Daily Hive notes.

Eight-in-10 Canadians [are cutting back on restaurant visits to make ends meet](https://www.moneysense.ca/spend/canada-tipping-culture-survey/), a September 2026 Restaurants Canada report found. [64% of operators report lower profitability than a year ago, and 41% are now operating at a loss or breaking even](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), according to Restaurants Canada figures cited in Actual's October 5 release. Average restaurant profits [fell to just 2.8% in 2024, against an industry benchmark of a 10% profit margin for a healthy restaurant, according to Restaurants Canada](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us).

## What This Means for Servers and Bartenders, and What Should You Do Next?

The decline is what tipped workers describe, not a payroll measure, and the national tip figures rest on [250 tipped respondents](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), with Ontario a smaller slice of that group. The wage and tip rules in [Ontario's guide to the Employment Standards Act](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities) apply either way.

- **Budget on the wage, not the tips.** For most adult servers the floor is [$17.95 an hour](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage), and [tips cannot count toward it](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). Check every stub against your hours, because compliance is judged [on a pay period basis](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage).
- **Ask to see the pool rules.** Pool terms [may be written or oral](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), so ask for them in writing. If an owner shares in the pool, the policy [must be posted in a clearly visible place](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).
- **Track your own tips.** Note card and cash tips for each shift. If payouts lag, Ontario treats an unreasonable delay as [possible withholding](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).
- **Refuse illegal deductions.** Tipping out to the house to cover spillage or breakage [is not allowed](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), and [the minimum wage page, which links the Employment Standards Self-Service Tool](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage), can help you check your pay.
- **Weigh the role, not just the room.** Front-line staff in this survey were far more likely than [back-of-house staff to say tip income influenced their decision to stay](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), and if you are weighing a move to the floor or the bar, [How to Become a Restaurant Server](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-to-become-a-restaurant-server) and [How to Write a Bartender Resume Objective That Gets Interviews](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/bartender-resume-objective-2025) are two places to start.

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- [Fifth Circuit Ruling: Major Win for Hospitality Employers on Tip Credit Regulations](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/fifth-circuit-dol-tip-credit-rule)
- [Young Canadians Believe the Hiring System is Flawed](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/young-canadians-hiring-system)
- [Catering Careers: Opportunities Await in Hospitality](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/catering-hospitality-jobs)

## People Also Asked

### Q: Are tips going down in Canada?

A: In an Angus Reid survey of 506 hospitality workers, [67% of tipped workers answered that tip amounts had decreased over the past two years, up sharply from 39% in 2024](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/), with Ontario highest at [72%](https://onactual.com/blog/tipping-trends-in-canada-2026-what-hospitality-workers-actually-told-us), though the tip questions rest on [a subset of 250 respondents](https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/press-releases/2026/10/05/new-report-reveals-tipping-decline-across-canada-year-over-year/).

### Q: What is the minimum wage for servers in Ontario?

A: The special liquor server rate [no longer applies as of January 1, 2022](https://www.ontario.ca/document/employment-standard-act-policy-and-interpretation-manual/part-ix-minimum-wage), so most adult servers get the general minimum wage of [$17.95 per hour from October 1, 2026](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage). Students under 18 who work 28 hours a week or less when school is in session, or who work during a school break or summer holidays, can be paid the [student rate of $16.90](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/minimum-wage).

### Q: Can my employer take part of my tips in Ontario?

A: Only through [statutory deductions, court orders or a tip pool](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities), apart from a [credit card processing portion that is excluded from the definition of a tip](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities). An employer can share in a pool only if it is a sole proprietor, partner, director or shareholder who regularly performs to a substantial degree the same work as staff who share in it, or as tipped workers at other employers in the same industry, under [Ontario's tips guide](https://www.ontario.ca/document/your-guide-employment-standards-act-0/tips-and-other-gratuities).

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