Electric Bill's closure shows Toronto's tight restaurant margins amid rising food, labour, and patio costs

Electric Bill, an Australian-themed cocktail bar that opened on Bloor Street West near Ossington Avenue in 2024, closed in August after owner Casey Ryan found that rising costs made it impossible to keep running—despite a dedicated local customer base.

Ryan explained the math behind the closure to CBC Toronto. "Your margins are tight already…[and so] there's more pressure on your pricing. You have to raise your prices. If you raise your prices too high, you price yourself out of the market," he said. Over the bar's two-year run, food costs rose approximately 20 per cent after a federal GST tax holiday in 2024 had brought prices down somewhat. The standard 10 per cent discount Electric Bill received from the LCBO did not offset the increasing cost of booze, and in April, the LCBO changed its wholesale pricing system for bars and restaurants without lowering Ryan's costs. Increases to rent, gas, hydro bills, and Ontario's minimum wage hikes all contributed to the bar's financial strain.

This past year, Electric Bill opted not to open its patio over what Ryan described as "crazy high" city fees of about $7,000. According to the City of Toronto's new pricing model, the base permit fee for the 2026 CafeTO patio season is approximately three thousand dollars plus additional charges based on square footage. Pat Tobin, Toronto's manager of economic development and culture, defended the fee structure, saying the cost of setting up a patio is still "significantly lower than the cost of indoor commercial space."

Ryan's experience mirrors a broader struggle across the restaurant sector. A February 2026 report from Restaurants Canada found that more than 40 per cent of its members were either operating at a loss or barely breaking even. Statistics Canada data shows a significantly more volatile business environment for restaurants and bars in Toronto between 2024 and 2026, when Electric Bill was open, compared to 2018 and 2020. From 2018 to 2020, there were 96 closures for every 100 openings in Toronto. By 2024 to 2026, that number had risen to 98.5 closures for every 100 openings.

"[Operators] don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. They aren't making a profit, they're losing money. They're putting money from their own pockets in," said Restaurants Canada CEO Kelly Higginson.