Catering prices

How to read these prices

Every price on this page is in Canadian dollars, per person, before HST. A "from" price is the cost of the simplest menu in that format at a typical guest count. It moves up when you choose premium proteins (beef tenderloin, lamb, seafood), add courses or pieces, or need a smaller guest count than the format is designed for.

A catering quote has two parts. The food is priced per person. The service (delivery, staff, service charge, rentals) is priced by the job, because it depends on the venue, the hours and the style of service rather than on the menu. HST applies at the end. The sections below go through each part in that order.

Breakfast, lunch and daytime formats

Daytime drop-off orders start at 15 guests and need 48 hours notice.

Receptions and standing events

Staffed formats start at 40 guests.

Dinners and weddings

Weddings need 6 months notice. For the trade-offs between these three, read buffet vs plated and stations vs family-style.

Delivery fee

Each drop-off order carries a delivery fee ($45). It covers the vehicle, the driver's time, setting the food out and labelling it. Full-service events carry the same charge for transporting food and equipment. Your quote confirms the fee for your address; locations at the edges of the GTA, events with a separate equipment pickup, and deliveries to buildings with long loading-dock waits can change it, and we tell you before you book, not on the invoice.

Downtown, parking and dock time are real costs. If your building gives delivery vehicles a free loading bay, tell us.

Staffing by the hour

Servers, attendants, bartenders and on-site cooks are billed per staff member per hour at the staff rate ($38 per staff hour). Hours run from arrival to departure, so they include setup before guests arrive and packing up after, not only the time food is served.

The number of staff comes from the format and the room. As planning guides:

More detail on roles is on the event staffing page.

Service charge

Full-service events carry a service charge (18%). Your quote states what it is calculated on and what it covers, so you can compare it line by line with other caterers. A service charge is set by the caterer and printed on the invoice. It is not the same as a voluntary tip, which is always your choice.

Service charges are standard in Toronto. Industry guides such as EventSource and elle cuisine both describe 15–20% as the common range. When comparing quotes, check whether a caterer's service charge is applied to food only, or to food, staff and rentals together, because the same percentage produces very different totals.

HST: 13% in Ontario

Ontario's Harmonized Sales Tax is 13%: 5% federal and 8% provincial. The Canada Revenue Agency's GST/HST guidance for the travel and convention industry treats catered food and beverages as taxable, including platters, hot meals, beverages and other supplies made to cater a function. All prices on this site are before HST, and HST appears as its own line on every quote and invoice.

You may have heard of Ontario's point-of-sale rebate on prepared food. According to the CRA, it only applies when the total of qualifying prepared food and beverages is $4 or less (before HST) in a single sale, so it does not apply to a normal catering order. Budget for the full 13%.

Rentals

Drop-off menus come with disposable plates, cutlery and napkins. For china, flatware, glassware, linens, tables, chairs, or a tent kitchen at a venue without one, items are quoted as a separate rentals line, including rental delivery and pickup. Rental companies in the GTA book up on June to September Saturdays and in December, so it pays to confirm rentals early rather than the week before.

A plated dinner for 150 typically needs dinner, side and dessert plates, at least three pieces of flatware per guest, water and wine glasses, table linens and napkins for 15–19 tables, plus a few spares of everything. Many venues include tables, chairs and linens, so check your venue contract before we quote.

Worked example 1: office lunch for 40

A hot lunch buffet delivered to a downtown office, set up at 11:30 for a noon break.

1. Food: 40 guests multiplied by the hot lunch buffet price per person (from $32), with two mains, a vegan and gluten-free main, sides, salad and dessert.
2. Delivery: one delivery fee ($45), including setup of chafing dishes and labels.
3. Staff: none for a drop-off. If the lunch is client-facing, one attendant for about three hours (30 minutes setup, two hours of service, 30 minutes to pack up) at the staff rate ($38 per staff hour), and the service charge (18%) then applies as your quote describes.
4. Rentals: none. Disposables are included.
5. HST: 13% added to the taxable subtotal.

So the total is: (40 × buffet price) + delivery + HST, or with an attendant, (40 × buffet price) + delivery + (1 × 3 hours × staff rate) + service charge + HST. The same lunch as boxed lunches replaces the first line with 40 × the boxed lunch price (from $24) and never needs an attendant.

Worked example 2: cocktail reception for 120

A two-and-a-half-hour evening reception at a gallery or loft with no kitchen, canapés passed throughout.

1. Food: 120 guests multiplied by the canapé price per person (from $38), sized at 10–12 pieces per guest across seven or eight varieties. Adding a grazing table as a second food point adds the grazing price per person (from $28) and lets us reduce the canapé count.
2. Staff: five or six passing servers, one captain and two kitchen staff, so eight or nine people, each for about five and a half hours (90 minutes setup, the reception itself, one hour of breakdown). The line is staff count × hours × staff rate ($38 per staff hour). Bartenders are added the same way if you have bar service.
3. Delivery: one delivery fee ($45) for food, portable ovens and equipment.
4. Service charge: 18%, applied as stated in the quote.
5. Rentals: cocktail napkins are included. Small plates, high-top tables and linens, and glassware are listed separately if the venue does not supply them.
6. HST: 13% on the taxable subtotal.

Total: (120 × canapé price) + (9 × 5.5 hours × staff rate) + delivery + service charge + rentals + HST. Notice that staffing is a large share of a reception budget; a shorter event or a venue with a working kitchen reduces it more than removing a canapé variety does.

Worked example 3: plated wedding for 150

A Saturday wedding in a venue with a basic back-of-house area: cocktail hour, a three-course plated dinner with three main-course choices, and a late-night snack.

1. Cocktail hour: 150 guests at 4–6 canapés each, priced per person from the canapé menu at the lower piece count.
2. Dinner: 150 guests multiplied by the plated dinner price per person (from $92). Choosing beef tenderloin or Arctic char as a main raises the per-person price for that course.
3. Late-night: optional, priced per person for the guests expected to stay (often 60–70% of the room).
4. Staff: 13–15 servers, one captain and four or five kitchen staff, so roughly 19–21 people, each for eight to nine hours. The line is staff count × hours × staff rate ($38 per staff hour).
5. Delivery: the delivery fee ($45) for food and kitchen equipment, which your quote may split into drop-off and pickup trips for a late finish.
6. Service charge: 18%, applied as stated in the quote.
7. Rentals: china, flatware, glassware and linens for 15–19 tables unless the venue includes them, plus a tent kitchen if there is no back-of-house area.
8. Bar: if you hold a Special Occasion Permit, the AGCO fee for a no-sale permit is $50 per day, and the application for a private indoor event must be made at least 10 days ahead. Bartender hours are billed like other staff. See bar service.
9. HST: 13% on the taxable subtotal.

Total: (150 × canapé hour price) + (150 × plated price) + (late-night guests × late-night price) + (about 20 staff × 8.5 hours × staff rate) + delivery + service charge + rentals + HST. For a plated wedding, food is often a little over half of the catering total once staff and rentals are included, which is why two quotes with the same per-person food price can end far apart.

How these prices compare with the Toronto market

Few full-service caterers in Toronto publish prices, so the best public reference points are planning guides written by event marketplaces and caterers. Treat these as broad market ranges, not quotes, and note that most exclude HST, and some exclude staff and service charges.

Two cautions when comparing. Marketplace staff rates (such as LunchLink's) are for drop-off support and cleanup, not trained banquet service, so they are not a like-for-like comparison with a plated wedding team. And a low per-person figure with staff, rentals and service charge left out can end up higher than a quote that shows everything. Use the worked examples above to put two quotes into the same structure.