Restaurants Canada elects new chairman

March 2, 2015, Toronto – Pizza Pizza Ltd. senior vice-president Paul Methot was elected chairman of the board of Restaurants Canada for 2015-2016 at the association’s annual meeting on Monday.

As chairman, Methot will oversee one of the country’s largest trade associations, representing 30,000 businesses in Canada’s $68-billion restaurant industry. The industry employs more than 1.2 million Canadians and serves over 18 million customers daily. 

“We are the growth industry that never stops growing. People have to eat, they want to enjoy themselves and our industry provides those unique events, venues, and products for tomorrow’s generation,” says Methot, who has served on the Restaurants Canada board since 2004.

“We deserve greater recognition by all levels of government for the jobs we provide, the businesses and opportunities we create and for our unique contributions to feeding our great country. I look forward to delivering this message and I’m determined to achieve results to support our Canadian businesses.”

Methot is in charge of Pizza Pizza’s restaurant operations, including call centre, food distribution and manufacturing. The Pizza Pizza network, including Pizza73, encompasses more than 700 restaurants across Canada with over 7,000 people working in their system. Methot’s favourite pizza? Hawaiian with bacon.

In addition, past director and chairwoman of the board Brenda O’Reilly, owner of YellowBelly and O’Reilly’s, was elected honorary fellow of Restaurants Canada.

Restaurants Canada also welcomes sommelier Jeremy Bonia, owner of Raymonds in St. John’s, to its board of directors. The complete list of board members is available at www.restaurantscanada.org.

Restaurants Canada is a national association comprising 30,000 businesses in every segment of the foodservice industry, including restaurants, bars, caterers and suppliers. Through advocacy, research, and member programs and services, Restaurants Canada is dedicated to helping its members in every community grow and prosper.