In the last 12 months, we’ve been introduced to a number of interesting and exciting new Canadian restaurant concepts. The Globe and Mail just released the west coast feature "The best new Vancouver restaurants of 2019" by Alexandra Gill as well as Dan Clapson’s annual best new restaurants of the Prairies which included Edmonton’s Smokey Bear, Calgary’s Sidewalk Citizen Bakery, and Winnipeg’s Nonsuch Brewing Co. Vancouver Sun writer Mia Stainsby also highlighted the best of Vancouver this week, with inclusions from Ancora Ambleside, Big Day Barbecue, and Bufala.

Earlier this fall, Air Canada enRoute’s Best New Restaurants list covered the country as a whole, and saw the Yukon’s Wayfarer Oyster House selected among a star-studded lineup of new Ontario, Quebec, and B.C. restaurants.

Possibly the single biggest piece of food news in 2019 was the debut of Canada’s new Food Guide. In 2017, Health Canada declared that Canadians weren’t consuming enough vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and the updated food guide seemed to be created in direct response to that. One of the most controversial amendments was the replacement of categories “meat and alternatives” and “milk and milk products” with the new category of “protein foods.” 

Registered dietitian and food writer, Vincci Tsui, gave us her assessment on the updated changes, highlighting the importance of how Canadians eat instead of what Canadians eat.

In January, Second Harvest and Value Chain Management, with the help of 700 anonymous food industry leaders across Canada, released a Food Waste Report wherein they state that nearly 60 per cent of food produced in Canada is wasted annually. The news that our country produces roughly 11.2 metric tonnes or $49.46 billion in lost food was staggering enough for Canadians to rally to correct the problem, and many individuals, restaurants, and grocery stores have begun making positive changes as a result.

On January 15, the CFIA declared a new era of food safety in Canada with the enforcement of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR). The SFCR’s goal was to make Canada’s food system safer than ever before by focusing on preventing and allowing for faster removal of unsafe food from the marketplace. While the new initiative saw the CFIA conduct numerous investigations and recalls, the most significant of the year took place when they investigated, suspended, and subsequently terminated the license of Canada’s largest kosher meat plant, Ryding-Regency.

2019 has been a huge year for Beyond Meat. The plant-based protein provider has been at the forefront of the North American no-meat movement and as trends gradually began to lean more heavily toward plant-based foods, restaurants, fast food chains, and even grocery stores have all fallen in line. Canadians were initially somewhat tentative to embrace the A&W Beyond Burger, but the plant-based offerings have expanded into an empire that included Subway, Quesada, 7-Eleven, and more.