To tip or not to tip? And, if so, to tip 10 per cent or 25 per cent?

These are choices many Canadians are making as they strive to continue dining out on increasingly tight budgets. Sadly, they appear to be leaning towards the “not” side. 

A recent international survey of dining trends reveals 25 per cent of 1,500 Canadians polled are cutting back on tipping, compared to 19 per cent of those interviewed in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. 

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About half of the Canadians polled identify higher prices as being the main factor affecting their ability to tip, with 47 per cent saying they prefer to tip between 10 and 15 per cent. 

Canadians and Belgians – tied at 34 per cent – led the pack in being the most adamant about eliminating tipping altogether. 

“With dining costs on the rise, Canadians are cutting back on tipping and getting creative to save a few bucks when eating out,” says the seven-country survey, released June 25 by Lightspeed Commerce Inc., an international commerce platform company.

It seems cutting back on tips may be one of the “creative ways” patrons are “saving a few bucks” to do so.

It is a worrying trend. According to the latest Canadian government figures, food servers in Canada earn anywhere from $14 to $30 an hour, depending on where they are geographically. 

The food and beverage server wage table posted on the federal government’s Job Bank site lists each province’s and territory’s lowest and highest wages. In the table’s centre is the “median” column, defined as being the value in the middle of a data set.

In most jurisdictions, the median amount is the same as the amount listed for the lowest wage, meaning half of all jobs in the industry pay the lowest wage. 

The lowest wage in most cases is also the minimum wage, with the exception of Quebec. There, the minimum wage is $15.25 per hour but for employees receiving tips, the minimum is $12.20 per hour, with the rest expected to be made up in tips.

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But minimum wage does not equal a “living wage,” defined as being the “hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover their basic expenses and participate in their community,” says the Ontario Living Wage Network. Basic expenses include food, shelter, clothing, childcare, transportation, medical expenses, and recreation.

Take the example of Ontario’s minimum wage of $16.55 an hour.

The Network calculates the hourly living wage ranges from $18.65 in southwestern Ontario to $25.05 in the Greater Toronto area.

To put that into perspective: a full-time minimum wage earner in Toronto makes around $2,317 a month (fora work week of 35 hours) before deductions, while the average rent of a one-bedroom unit in the city is $2,444, according to rentals.ca’s July 2024 report.

As the Employee Benefits Resource in Canada information service notes: “Many servers say tips remain essential to earn adequate income, even with higher base wages.”

This is even more important in businesses where server tips are shared with kitchen staff and other workers.

The financial and power differential between the server and those being served is one of the key issues at the heart of tipping.

In certain service industries, workers – particularly those whose skills are non-specialist, have a basic education, and aren’t unionized – are made vulnerable not only by low wages but reduced or no benefits, unpaid leave, and part-time hours.

Meanwhile, those in higher professional classes able to afford the expensive habit of dining out, getting a fancy hairstyle, receiving goods delivered to their doorstep, and other services can acknowledge, and take responsibility for, bridging this differential through their tips.

Yes, inflation is taking a big bite out of everyone’s purchasing power, and it’s getting harder to treat ourselves to a dinner out, but the struggle with inflation is so much more intense for those on the lower end of the income scale: those who serve us.

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The other key issue is the expression of gratitude. Someone has worked hard to make the evening special, has gotten wet on a stormy afternoon as they deliver a parcel, has made our hair look stunning. Our tips encourage these workers by recognizing their talent, commitment and hard work. Yes, they get paid to do what they do, but that shouldn’t stop our appreciation for their existence. 

Dining out would be a different experience without servers. Let’s thank them for who they are and what they do.