How Canadian Restaurants Use Automation to Cut Labour Costs and Increase ROI
Practical guide to restaurant workflow automation in Canada. Labour-saving equipment, IoT monitoring and self-serve stations. See payback timelines.
The labour reality in Canadian restaurants
Operators still face tight staffing. In Q4 2024, 37.3% of Canadian businesses expected labour-related obstacles in the next three months, with accommodation and food services among the most affected. (Statistics Canada)
Vacancies improved from 2022 highs but remain elevated in our sector through early 2025 compared with most industries. (Statistics Canada)
Rising wage floors increase the payoff from time-saving tools: Ontario moved to $17.20 on Oct 1, 2024; Nova Scotia to $16.50 on Oct 1, 2025; New Brunswick to $15.65 on Apr 1, 2025. (Ontario Newsroom)
Restaurant automation trends in Canada to reduce labour
AI scheduling and forecasting. Restaurants are shifting to demand-driven rosters that cut overstaffing and prevent understaffed rushes. Practical overviews show how AI scheduling software optimises staffing and reduces manual guesswork. (Digital Ordering Platform | Techryde)
Smart, high-speed and combi cooking. Modern platforms automate cook cycles and recipes to shrink training time and speed throughput when crews are lean. Industry roundups highlight faster cook times and consistency benefits.
Connected kitchens with IoT monitoring. Platforms like Open Kitchen centralise food safety logs, equipment alerts, and performance data across sites to reduce downtime and labour drag. (Middleby)
Front-of-house self-service where it fits. Kiosks and mobile ordering move routine transactions to guests and route accurate tickets to the line. Canadian trade coverage notes tech adoption to offset labour constraints in 2025. (Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine)
Proof of momentum: A 2025 workforce study found 65% of restaurants adopted new tech in 2024 to manage labour. (Hospitality Tech)
Image of a Henny Penny combi oven with automatic cooking controls!
The business case: measure minutes, not myths
Minutes per order down via presets and guided UIs.
Transactions per labour hour up as cook time falls and error/re-fires drop.
Service calls shorter with IoT diagnostics and trend data.
Authoritative operator resources emphasise augmentation, not replacement, to boost speed and accuracy with smaller teams. (NRA)
Your restaurant automation stack to boost profitability
Back of house
Henny Penny® pressure and open fryers: touch UI, auto top-off, and push-button filtration reduce oil handling and clean-down time. Pair with connected monitoring for alerts.
Henny Penny® combi ovens: programmable recipes, humidity control, and auto-wash reduce training time and end-of-day labour.
Why it matters now in Canada: higher wage floors amplify savings from automated filtration, auto-wash cycles, and guided cooking. (Ontario Newsroom)
Front of house
Franke® super-automatic coffee systems: barista-quality at the push of a button for staffed or self-serve beverage stations.
Taylor® soft-serve and slush: repeatable, high-throughput desserts and frozen beverages with simple routines.
IoT and workflow
Open Kitchen by Powerhouse Dynamics: consolidate HACCP logs, temperature monitoring, and equipment alerts across locations to keep crews focused on guests. (Middleby)
Step-by-step restaurant workflow automation plan
Launch this restaurant workflow automation plan to cut labour minutes per order, raise transactions per labour hour, and standardise quality across shifts.
Stabilise the schedule. Pilot AI scheduling in a high-variance store. Track labour minutes per order and shifts with under-coverage. (Digital Ordering Platform | Techryde)
Standardise cooking. Add smart combi or high-speed presets for your top 10 SKUs and lock in recipes to reduce re-fires.
Instrument the kitchen. Connect fryers, combis, refrigeration and HVAC to an IoT platform to reduce surprise outages and truck rolls.
Deploy self-service where throughput is king. Kiosks at peak periods, self-serve coffee in breakfast rush, and frozen beverages in afternoon traffic. (Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine)
Finance for cash flow. Use lease-to-own or rentals to align savings with payments while labour savings accrue.
Protect uptime with planned maintenance. Tie automation to a service plan so crews avoid firefighting.
Why act now: cost pressure and insolvency risk
Restaurants Canada reported bankruptcies up 45% in the first eight months of 2024, with over half of operators at a loss or break-even. Labour is a core driver. Automation that saves minutes and errors is one of the fastest levers operators control. (GlobeNewswire)
Restaurant automation equipment in Canada
TFI Food Equipment Solutions supplies and services automation-ready restaurant equipment across Ontario and Atlantic Canada. With 60+ years in Canadian foodservice, we handle site survey, installation, start-up training, OEM-parts service, and flexible leasing or rentals so you can deploy restaurant workflow automations, reduce labour, and boost profitability.
Henny Penny® — ovens and fryers that automate labour-heavy tasks
Combi ovens: one-touch, multi-step recipes with core-probe finish and auto hold; smart humidity control; auto-clean cycles to cut end-of-day labour.
Pressure/open fryers: automatic top-off and push-button filtration reduce oil handling and downtime; low-oil-volume designs can cut oil use by about 40% each year.
Impact: faster throughput, fewer re-fires, lower oil spend, and simpler training for new staff.
Taylor® — soft serve, slush, and two-sided grills that save time
Soft serve & slush: automatic viscosity control and standby modes keep product ready with minimal intervention; optional heat-treatment models reduce daily cleaning time.
Two-sided grills: two-sided cooking with programmable cook times and gap profiles eliminates flipping and speeds ticket times.
Impact: leaner FOH/BOH staffing and high-margin programmes; frozen dessert and beverage lines often deliver 70–80% gross profit.
Franke® — automatic coffee systems that boost margin
One-touch beverages with programmable recipes and automated milk texturing for consistent drinks across shifts.
Auto-clean systems shorten close-down and maintain hygiene without manual scrubbing; optional fleet tools streamline recipe updates.
Impact: premium coffee programmes commonly earn 80%+ gross profit with 6–12 month payback, while freeing staff for guest service.
Frequently asked questions
What is restaurant automation in practical terms?
Using software and connected equipment to reduce repetitive tasks: AI scheduling, preset cooking, auto filtration, auto-wash, temperature logging, and kiosks that route orders directly to the line.
Will automation replace my team?
Leading sources stress augmentation. Automation shifts staff to hospitality and quality checks while software handles repetitive steps. (NRA)
Which labour-saving kitchen equipment shows the quickest wins?
Combi ovens with auto-wash and guided cooking, low-oil-volume fryers with auto top-off and push-button filtration, and super-automatic coffee systems for self-serve or FOH. (Middleby)
How widespread is adoption?
A recent workforce report shows 65% of restaurants adopted new tech in 2024 to handle labour challenges, with momentum into 2025. (Hospitality Tech)
How do I connect kiosks, POS, and the kitchen without extra staff?
Choose a POS with strong integrations and use order-routing rules to send tickets to KDS and equipment presets automatically. Good overviews are available from Canadian trade press and POS vendors. (Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine)
What Canadian context affects ROI in 2025?
Higher provincial minimum wages in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick increase the payoff from minutes saved per order and fewer re-fires. (Ontario Newsroom)
Make it real with TFI Canada
TFI Food Equipment Solutions serves Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland & Labrador with sales, installation, training, and factory-certified service. Book a live demo in Mississauga or Dartmouth, compare lease vs rental, and build your automation roadmap.
Nicole Camposeo-Cheung is the Director of Marketing, People & Culture at TFI Food Equipment Solutions, Canada’s leading provider of premium commercial foodservice equipment. She combines her expertise in business management and fashion arts to foster a dynamic, innovative, and people-centric corporate culture. Passionate about empowering teams, building strong client relationships, and driving growth through creativity and collaboration, Nicole plays a key role in shaping TFI’s brand and workplace culture. She also shares her industry expertise and insights through the TFI blog, helping foodservice professionals stay informed about the latest trends, best practices, and innovations in commercial food equipment.
Add a comment
This will be publicly visible.
Your email address will not be published.
Your comment will be reviewed by an admin before it is published.
![](https://ik.imagekit.io/cr32zgyto/5/1709487097855_OmZXw932d.jpg?tr=w-"724"
)
![](https://ik.imagekit.io/cr32zgyto/5/1709423601690_1ag4d8OOy.jpg?tr=w-"724"
)
![](https://ik.imagekit.io/cr32zgyto/5/1709737199320_c3mVMwUIf.jpg?tr=w-"724"
)