A year into the COVID-19 pandemic and things are still looking bleak for Canada’s restaurant industry. The financial relief provided to restaurant owners, especially by provincial governments, has been largely ineffective. Guidelines for opening and closing are ad hoc and sudden. Proactive solutions like loosening liquor laws to create even a sliver of extra income for businesses still remains to be seen in some places. For the workers of this industry, who were already precarious pre-pandemic, this has been a time of unparalleled instability. In numbers alone, Canada’s 1.2 million restaurant workers, who represent 7 percent of the country’s workforce, are significant. They are a large enough demographic that they have the potential to affect virus contagion nationally, and yet, support for them and their industry has been waning at best. Of those who have remained employed throughout the pandemic, most are still without paid sick leave, even amid this global health crisis. And as dining rooms begin to open in parts of the country, owners and workers are once again being tasked to act as pseudo epidemiologists, running through symptoms, risks, and recourse should there be a COVID-19 scare or, worse, an active case within their workplace. In the face of rapidly advancing new virus variants, even the government’s personal protective equipment and contact-tracing guidelines seem impotent in regards to ensuring safety. The situation feels just as untenable and directionless for all involved today as it did back in March 2020.