Hour 2 of Ottawa Now for Mon. May 4th, 2026

High operating costs, the cost of food, and uneven consumer spending are placing a key Canadian economic engine under pressure. That would be Canada’s restaurant sector, according to a new warning from Restaurants Canada. The financial strain has been especially prevalent in the early stages of 2026, as these aforementioned factors continue to erode profitability margins. Kristy Cameron digs deeper with David Mangano, the co-owner of The Grand Pizzeria on George Street. In Dave’s case, he hasn’t noticed much of a drop in earnings, but the economic uncertainty has been building due to increased gas prices and minimum wage hikes. Meantime, Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has announced what he called ‘a step’ to deal with youth homelessness and general homelessness. Last September, as you might recall, he made a pledge to eliminate youth homelessness by 2030. CFRA’s Andrew Pinsent has more on that. Plus, Statistics Canada is rolling out the 2026 census, but they are also on the lookout for new employees to sift through the data. That story is coming up in Hour 2.