Day One Highlights: Independent Restaurants Day
Presented by Maple Leaf Foods | Presenting Sponsor: Independent Restaurants Day
Independent restaurants anchor Canada’s foodservice landscape. They give neighbourhoods their character, push innovation forward, and stand at the frontline of an industry undergoing rapid change. Day One of RC Show (Sunday, March 8)—Independent Restaurants Day, presented by Maple Leaf Foods—is built with these operators and hospitality professionals in mind.
It’s impossible to try to cover it all, so we asked the RC Show team to spotlight the moments that capture Day One’s goal: giving independents clarity on where the industry is heading and practical ideas to support them today and Into the Beyond.
Here’s their guide to the day’s can’t-miss moments:
Kick off your 3-day experience with a community parade:
RC Show Opening Ceremony
Speaker Stage | Hall 5 | 11:00 AM– 11:20 AM
The Show opens with something more deliberate than a quick welcome from the stage. Attendees are invited to meet at the Restaurants Canada booth (#5015 and #5025) for the ribbon cutting, followed by a procession to the Speaker Stage for a special ceremony by Santee Siouxx and Chef Chris Commandant and an opening address from Restaurants Canada President & CEO Kelly Higginson and invited industry and government officials.
The Opening Ceremony is both a kickoff and a reminder that the Show is not just a marketplace, but a space for the operators, suppliers, and policymakers to connect and collaborate.
Dive into revenue boosts and solutions that fit into your busy operations.
Diversify Your Revenue with Catering
Business Hub – GROW | Connector | 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM
Presented by Element Event Solutions
For most independents, the pressure is simple: the current business model has to stretch further. Catering remains one of the most practical ways to do that. This session walks through the basics—menu design, operations, pricing, and sales—without assuming there’s a large corporate structure in place to get it done. Aimed at operators who know they “should” be doing more off-site business but haven’t had the time or resources to get rolling, the panel’s focus is on realistic steps that fit the scale of a small or mid-sized team.
Making the List: Breaking into Tourism Trails, Guides & Top Lists
Speaker Stage | Hall 5 | 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Visibility has changed. A strong local following is no longer the end goal, and tourism trails, destination guides, and “best of” lists increasingly shape where visitors spend their money. This session covers how those lists are built, what destination marketers look for, and how independent restaurants can position themselves without losing control of their story.
For operators in regions that rely on tourism, this session is an essential primer on how to be discovered by the people planning their trips six months in advance, and how to keep them coming back.
Find possibility in the hard lessons of failure.
Mistake Stories Panel
Bar & Beverage Stage | Hall 1 | 12:15 PM – 1:15 PM
The hospitality sector rarely talks publicly about failure, even though it is built into the work. The Mistake Stories panel makes that connection and its unmined value explicit. Operators candidly share big ideas that just didn’t work—menu concepts, technology bets, expansion plans—and what changed in their businesses as a result. Don’t miss this chance to see where others misread guests, overestimated their teams, or underestimated complexity, and to commiserate, learn, and maybe make some tweaks to your own plans.
Explore new talent communities, leadership skills, and critical brand evolution strategies.
Success Story: Rethinking Talent Through Neuroinclusion with Sarang Kitchen
Business Hub – GROW | Connector | 1:00 PM– 1:45 PM
Presented by Restaurants Canada
Labour continues to be one of the toughest constraints on growth (and even regular operations). This session looks at an under-considered talent solution: neuroinclusive hiring. Featuring Jennifer Low from Sarang Kitchen, a halal Korean restaurant and neurodiversity-forward social enterprise, with Stephanie Bass (Kerry’s Place Autism Services), Char Zozzolotto (Geneva Centre for Autism), and a Mystery Speaker, the discussion highlights the skills, structures, and simple operational shifts that enable neurodiverse team members to thrive. The discussion is practical, focusing on job design, training, communication tools, key learnings, and the positive impact on retention and culture. It also reframes neuroinclusion as a way to access an underutilized talent pool, rather than as a side project.
Psychological Safety in Practice: Building the Cultures Today’s Talent Demands
Speaker Stage | Hall 5 | 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Presented by Smart Serve Ontario
Younger workers are clear about what they expect from employers. In this session, moderated by Michael Landsberg, Kris Hall (The Burnt Chef Project) and mental health coach and author Jocelyn Pepe (TRU) unpack those expectations and translate them into everyday leadership behaviours. Learn how to respond when staff raise concerns, how to handle conflict without escalating it, and how to move beyond one-off wellness initiatives. For operators struggling with turnover or morale, this conversation offers a straightforward look at what simple changes can make a world of difference to staff wellbeing and workplace harmony.
Keeping it Real: Staying True to Your Brand as You Grow
Speaker Stage | Hall 5 | 2:15 PM – 3:15 PM
Growth can be tempting and perilous in equal measure. This panel brings together operators who have expanded into new markets or channels and the strategies they used (or lessons they learned) to protect and scale what made their brand special.
The conversation focuses on practical questions: which parts of the guest experience are non-negotiable, how to document and teach culture, and where to adapt for different neighbourhoods without confusing guests. It’s relevant whether you’re contemplating a second location or simply adding retail and take-home.
Get the full context and great ideas for full-service.
Stats with Sara: The State of Full-Service Restaurants
Speaker Stage | Hall 5 | 3:30 PM – 3:45 PM
Presented by Restaurants Canada
In this short but rich briefing, Restaurants Canada research analyst Sara Hamdy summarises current conditions for full-service restaurants: inflation trends, labour costs, guest behaviour, traffic and spend patterns, and margin pressure.
It’s an essential data download to frame the rest of your Show experience and the year ahead, adding valuable context to streamline your decisions around pricing, staffing, and investment.
Operator Perspectives on the Future of Hospitality
Speaker Stage | Hall 5 | 3:45 PM – 4:45 PM
Presented by American Express Canada
This dynamic panel brings together some of Canada’s most accomplished hospitality operators to examine what strong operators are doing right now and how they’re positioning their businesses for long-term success. Spanning community-rooted independents and concept-driven leaders, the conversation focuses on how operators are building brands that are resilient and designed to lead.
Raise (and rethink) the bar.
Day 3 Keynote
Bar & Beverage Keynote: Chockie Tom
Bar & Beverage Stage | Hall 1 | 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Presented by Maple Leaf Foods | Presenting Sponsor: Independent Restaurants Day
Chockie Tom is an Indigenous storyteller, bartender, drinks writer, and educator working at the intersection of hospitality, labour and culture. Proudly Numu (Paiute) and Pomo, she works from an Indigenous perspective that shapes how she approaches hospitality, labour practices, and cultural accountability within the global beverage industry.
Chockie’s keynote is rooted in a philosophy of cultural integrity, community care, and creative expression. Through solutions-based approaches to cultural sustainability, she examines pre-colonial fermented beverages of the Americas and the historical narratives that continue to shape contemporary hospitality practices. The talk offers frameworks for ethical collaboration and responsible foraging, emphasizing accountability, shared knowledge, and long-term relationship building with Indigenous peoples on the lands where hospitality operates.
For operators, the keynote offers a broader frame for beverage programs: whose stories are being told, how ingredients are sourced, and how bars can function as places of respect and repair, not only of consumption.
Watch live competitions and fuel your R&D.
Across the Show floor, three major competitions heat up on Day One:
- Garland Canada Culinary Competition Semi-Finals
Culinary Stage | Hall 3 | 10:15 AM – 5:00 PM
Presented by Restaurants Canada and Garland Canada
- Restaurants Canada Pizza Competition: Traditional
Pizza Stage | Hall 2 | 10:15 AM – 5:00 PM
Presented by Galbani Professionale, Mill Street Brewery, and Restaurants Canada
- 3-Day National Latte Art Championship – Preliminary Round
Coffee Stage | Hall 5| 10:15 AM – 5:00 PM
Presented by: Dairy Farmers of Canada, and Lavazza
Beyond the entertainment value, these stages offer useful insight on what top chefs, pizzaiolos and baristas are thinking about creativity, cost, workflow, sustainability, and flavour in real time. Watching the judges’ feedback is often as instructive as watching the competitors.
Connect and grow your hospitality community.
The Chefs’ Exchange
RC Pop Up Experience | Hall 1 | 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Presented by Restaurants Canada and Garland Canada
Inside the reimagined RC Pop Up Experience, presented by American Express Canada, The Chefs’ Exchange gathers culinary leaders and innovators for a focused, invitation-only reception. The goal is simple: create space for connection and unexpected conversations and collaborations.
Chefs interested in attending can email events@restaurantscanada.org. Invitations are extended as capacity allows. Guest list closes at 11:59 PM Friday, March 27.
Industry Night Out – The Ultimate RC Show After-Hours Event
POSTA Italbar Cucina, Port Credit | 8:00 PM – 1:00 AM
Presented by Restaurants Canada and POSTA Italbar Cucina
VIP Experience Presented by SKIP
The day closes at POSTA Italbar Cucina, where Industry Night Out offers an after-hours, off-site setting for celebration and informal networking. Expect pop-up food and drink from the POSTA kitchen and High Liner Foods, a Skip-forward gelato bar and sounds from Def Collective’s Grown Ass Pizza Party, sponsored by SKIP, and a chance to see how a top operation handles a high-energy evening.
The Industry Night Out VIP Experience, presented by SKIP, gives special guests and VIPs skip-the-line access, reserved seating, and bottle service—adding a premium layer to the night.
Tickets: $80.00 + HST – Available in the RC Show registration portal OR direct.
Day One is dense, but the throughline is clear: independent restaurants are central to how Canadians gather, celebrate and work. These sessions and events are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the full schedule for more Independents Day programming here.
Register NOW and start building your RC Show 2026 experience.