Catering: a technological transition that is stressing an industry already in the red

The imposition of a technological shift in the sales operation module (MEV) by Revenu Québec worries restaurateurs, who are sorry to pay the costs of a digital shift which will mainly benefit companies that offer such systems.

“It cost us more than $30,000,” assures the general manager of Schwartz’s, Frank Silva. We’re going to get through this, because we’re Schwartz’s. But I worry about the smaller restaurants.”

In the case of this smoked meat institution, the point of sale system in place was not compatible with MEV-WEB, the new cloud version of the sales operation module, imposed in particular on restaurateurs since 2010.

A transition that “makes sense”

This module, which originally took the form of a small blue box, is imposed “to counter tax evasion and ensure fairness in the restaurant sector,” explains Revenu Québec.

This transition “makes sense,” according to Michel Leblanc, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM). In particular, it will make it possible to automate the transmission of sales data to the government agency and the possibility of electronic delivery of invoices.

“I understand the technological transition undertaken by the government,” assures the owner of the craft brewery Le Saint-Bock, Martin Guimond. What I understand less is that this is done at the expense of traders.”

He also fears that point-of-sale system companies like Véloce are “lining their pockets” and that the place that some of them occupy on the market will become too important.

The industry cannot absorb the bill

“What the State must realize is that taxation must not give rise to the emergence of additional private services which add to the bill,” believes Michel Leblanc.

“The prices of all contracts could have been increased because we are all obliged to sign new ones” by May 31, 2025, deplores Thierry Boisclair, owner of Tri Express, located on the Plateau, and Regashi , in Little Burgundy.

For these two restaurants, the system change cost approximately $2,500, but monthly costs increased by $230.

“According to the Regulatory Impact Analysis available on the Quebec government website, the first estimates show an average implementation cost of $6,000 per establishment,” responded Revenu Québec.

“That there is a nascent industry that wants to make money on the need to equip itself with web equipment, the State should not allow it,” insists Michel Leblanc.

This bill will inevitably be passed on to the consumer since restaurateurs can no longer absorb additional costs like these, laments the owner of Saint-Bock. “The government is going to kill us. It makes me angry.”

Six months before the deadline, “more than 11%” of subject traders have acquired the new equipment. They must have signed a contract before 1^is June 2025 with a supplier planning to install a sales recording system by August 31, 2025 inclusive.