Tipping, what happens if you don't tip! - Canada Forum (2024)

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Destination Expert

Hi UkMon ~

Tipping is voluntary. Groups of 6 or 8+ may find written on the menu that a "large group gratuity of 15-18% will be added to the bill."

Having said that we are a culture where tipping is simply part of the culture, just as brushing your teeth in the morning is part of what we usually do. No one will chase you down the street. You won't get any less service than if you tipped, although they will remember you if you tip 20% and return for another go! This topic is completely personal which is why a thread about tipping is usually 82 posts long by the time a couple of days have gone by. Everyone wants to disagree with the previous poster and pass on what "they" do.

lolol. For once I'm glad this topic is on the Canada forum! It is really lonely forum and very few regulars follow it, so we're probably safe from 82 posts on this topic.

But, because this is a hot topic, there is a Top Question about tipping to the right of the page. 6th down in the list.

Here is the short cut to that article: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g153339-s606/Canada:Tipping.And.Etiquette.html

Once you have read through that and you find you have more questions about tipping, please post on the most relevant city forum where you will be visiting. Canada is too big for generalizations about it. It is better to ask on local city forums.

And this thread: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g154943-i81-k2978292-Tipping_in_canada-Vancouver_British_Columbia.html

And this thread: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g154943-i81-k6585076-Tipping_and_GST-Vancouver_British_Columbia.html

Your choice. If you tip, consider the restaurant/pub service you get, run it through your personal assessment system and find a %age on your personal sliding scale between 0 and 20%.

You misunderstand a lot about tipping in Canada and how it works. Start by having a read through this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g153339-s606/Canada:Tipping.And.Etiquette.html

Also, plunk "tipping" into the search engine and you'll be avalanched with countless explanations and opinions.

Bottom line: You're travelling to a foreign country with different social/etiquette/cultural rules than you're used to, so kudos to you for trying to figure out how to act appropriately before you arrive.

Cheers,

Terry

Tipping in Canada is more expected because workers are paid less in the anticipation of tips....their regular wage is not a living wage...so your tip allows them to make a decent living...

Destination Expert

What happens if you don't tip?

Well, in most restaurants, servers have to share ("tip out") a set portion of their tips with other staff such as line cooks, bus boys and hosts. Sometimes the amount they owe to each other employee is calculated as a percentage of the tips they receive, but since it's hard to keep track of that, it is often calculated as a straight percentage of the sales they process, based on the assumption that they're getting tipped 15% of each bill. If you don't tip, the server would still have to tip out as though you had tipped.

So to answer your question, if you don't tip, the waiter/waitress -- for whom a lower minimum wage applies than the general workforce -- is going to have to pay out of their own pocket for the pleasure of serving you.

No one is going to chase you down the road shouting. But they will feel kicked in the teeth.

So, yes, I'd say get used to it as an extra "tax", though 15% is enough (20% if you're particularly pleased with the service).

The general exception is for fast-food or cafeteria-style service where you receive your order at the counter and no one serves to your table. Tipping is not expected in such scenarios, and any "tip jar" at the counter is optional, except in the case of alcohol which is always tipped even when served at the bar.

I can remember years ago having a discussion with a manager at a popular steak house in a small town in B. C. He was short of staff that night, and he actually had to put on a tie, and wait on tables. He hardly made any tips that night. Not sure if the customers assumed that because he was the manager, that they didn't have to, or if he was just that lousy as a waiter! But at the end of the night, he had to pay out of his own pocket, because the policy there, was what tweedwolfscream explained in the above post. He owed a percentage of the sales he made that night, and that percentage went to the cooks, bus people, hostesses, and others behind the scenes. He was so angry at the customers! And while I had worked as a waitress for years through high school and my college days, I had to point out to him that he needed to be angry with his restaurant's own policy!

You can't MAKE people leave a tip, unless you are in a big group, and it is added onto the bill regardless of the service you received. My own kids have tipped twice in a situation like this, not realizing that it was already added on to their bill, because they were out with a bunch of their friends.

Between the taxi drivers, and the hairdresser, the housemaid, the bell boy, the valet, it can become a minefield out there, that is for sure!

I also think there is a difference between tipping for a sit down, table service meal, vs. something like a buffet or getting a coffee or a drink. At the pub, people often just leave some change. If its just one drink and you picked it up yourself at the bar, you might just pocket your change. If you received table service, you'll "round up", if you had food and several drinks and ran a tab, then you'll tip at around 15%.

I dropped change in the jar in the UK. They tip there too.

This post was determined to be inappropriate by the Tripadvisor community and has been removed.

krustytripper, I've been in the States enough times, and on the Maui forum in particular. There are threads that say the same as you, only you can insert "Canadian" for "Brits".

This post was determined to be inappropriate by the Tripadvisor community and has been removed.

Destination Expert

By not leaving a tip, you are sending a message to your server that they gave you horrible, despicable service. You actually might get chased by your server, who might ask you, "I noticed you didn't leave a tip. What did we do wrong?" I have seen this happen to my European friend who knowinglyly decided to forgo a tip when paying for an expensive bottle of wine for our group at a birthday dinner here in Vancouver. The server chased our group down, legitimately concerned, and asked what she did wrong. When we discovered our friend had not left a tip, we were all embarrassed and paid for the tip.

Even though *legally* tipping is optional, to not leave a tip is a faux pas when you're getting table service in a restaurant in Canada. You leave a tip, it is expected. 15% is the norm in Canada, 20% if they exceeded your expectations, 10% if it was below par. No tip if it was despicable, rude, service.

p.s. In the USA, a 20% tip is the expected minimum, hence the "cheap Canadian" label. Canadians are used to tipping 15% before tax. In the USA, prices are cheaper, taxes are cheaper, so leaving a 20% tip isn't as big of a deal. My $0.02.

Edited: 10 years ago