r/uAlberta • u/Either-Literature405 • 1d ago
Question Should I add to tip as a student?
Hellooo
I am a first-year student, and Canada is not my home country.
In my country, tipping does not exist and is even illegal.
I understand tipping in the United States because, in some states, workers may lack a salary without customer tips.
However, every Canadian province mandates a minimum wage.
I find it hard to accept tipping here because most workers are part-time, and I believe they should not rely on customer tips.
If my home were Canada and I held a job there, adding tips would be acceptable.
Yet all my expenses come from my parents in my home country.
Also, I pay a tuition fee of about $42,000 per year.
I really do not want to add tips.
Also, the Canadian tip system seems excessive:
(Original price + tax) × tip (around 15%)
Should I pay tips?
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u/m0dern_baseBall Undergraduate Student - Faculty of _____ 1d ago
I only tip at restaurants where I have a server or barbers
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u/shimswfi 1d ago
I went to Paris Baguette early this week, where basically everyone just picks up food or drinks by themselves.
The tipping options on their machine are 22% 20% 18% lol.
I do tip when, for example, my Uber driver helps with my luggage at the airport, I receive some excellent service in fine dining restaurants, etc.
However, nobody should be shamed if they decide not to tip. Instead, whoever treats your customers differently just because they do not tip or tip less should be shamed. Do your job and be professional.
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u/dokdo227 19h ago
I made more as a server working 2 days in tips than I did working 8hrs/day for 5 days at the warehouse. The warehouse paid 21/hr btw.
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u/meazlyy 9h ago
Tip for sit down restaurants, delivery, barber. If you're doing take out or cafe/fast food usually no need to tip. For restaurants, whether people like it or not, that's our system and the only person you hurt when you don't tip is your server.
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u/mikennaa Graduate Student - Faculty of Science 9h ago
This right here. My partner is a server, if he didn’t earn tips he wouldn’t be able to pay his bills
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u/Original_Drawing3930 18h ago
I tip 18-20% no matter where I’m going. I’ve worked in the serving industry and spreading my wealth (I have a decent job) is a privilege I have. Have no fear tipping none of you don’t eat in because someone will tip to cover yours.
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u/William2198 Undergraduate Student - Faculty of _____ 1d ago
Only tip if you go to a sit down restaurant.
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u/gweterluvr 1d ago
Might sound terrible for saying this but I never tip. Everything’s already expensive nowadays 💔
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u/GrapefruitFar8082 Undergraduate Student - Faculty of Arts 1d ago
exactly. most business owners make enough profit a year to pay their workers more. idk why we are expected to be paying their salary, esp as students
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u/Evening_Gift3558 1d ago
When they are nice to me at chipotle or barburrito I do tip a dollar or two.
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u/EvermoreDespair Undergraduate Student - Faculty of Science 1d ago
Tipping is completely optional. You don't need to if you can't. It does help the part-time workers out quite a bit, but its completely voluntary.
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u/Visible-Society-9753 23h ago edited 19h ago
fyi a lot of restaurants have something called a "tipout" and usually its a % of their sales. restaurants take on average either 3-9% off of sales or 40-60% off of tips.
if a restaurant takes it from sales then not tipping will cause your server to lose money. of course tipping is completely optional and taking money from servers is hella scummy in my opinion.
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u/thisissuremyusername 11h ago
Your server will never lose money. The restaurant has to pay minimum wage to everyone.
And of course the tips should be redistributed to the people in the kitchen. Their job is more important. So entitled.
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u/mikennaa Graduate Student - Faculty of Science 9h ago
They can lose money if they’re selling far more than they’re making in their hourly… if a server sells $300 in an hour and only makes $15 hourly, assuming they owe the kitchen 5% of their bill, they will not make any money for that hour of work. I’m sorry you think it’s entitlement but for a lot of servers, they rely on tips to pay their bills. Nobody can survive on minimum wage
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u/thisissuremyusername 8h ago
They will still get paid AT LEAST $15/hour for that hour. Thats the law.
If they weren’t making money, nobody would be a server.
They can make over $30/hour with tips. Hence why everyone wants to do it.
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u/mikennaa Graduate Student - Faculty of Science 8h ago
They can get paid that $15 and need to owe $15 out of pocket at the same time. Yeah they’ll get paid but they can also owe. Both things can be true. All the money they make is FROM TIPS. I’ve read all your comments, it’s clear you have no idea how serving works. I’m not engaging further
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u/yeli1442 6h ago
Exactly this. Everything we pay comes from our tips-- if we do not make tips, that money comes out of our wallet. Also the argument about alberta labour laws is silly. Just because it is a law does not mean that all business owners follow
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u/thisissuremyusername 7h ago
They will NEVER owe money. That would be illegal under Alberta’s labour laws. If they were frequently owing money, nobody would do the job.
I know servers who were making $40/hour with tips. It’s ridiculous.
This myth comes from the US where servers would only get $2/hour before tips and were treated more like independent contractors than employees. But even that isn’t how it works anymore in most states.
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u/MutedAd4713 5h ago
No they don't. I don't know where you worked but under Albertan and Canadian law you cannot garnish wages. Just because some place is shady doesn't mean that's the standard. Even if they are using some stupid loopholes to make it not 'garnishing,' it is still very much illegal and it's just as much on you if you continued working at such an establishment.
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u/Visible-Society-9753 2h ago
legally yes but we know thats not how that works with all restaurants. and you completely missed out on me saying tipping is completely optional and saying that im entitled.
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u/britishalt 23h ago
Tip servers and bartenders please.
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u/thisissuremyusername 11h ago
There’s no need to. Servers and bartenders are already paid minimum wage in Canada.
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u/Dapper_Wallaby_1318 Alumni - Faculty of Science 21h ago
At sit down restaurants, servers have to tip out the kitchen typically 5-8% of their sales regardless of the tip. So if you don’t tip, they lose money. The system is messed up but that’s just the way of it. Please always tip your server 15-20% if the service was good, that’s how your server makes their living. Of course tipping is optional but it’s disrespectful to your server to not tip or leave a very small tip like $5 on a $100 bill.
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u/thisissuremyusername 11h ago edited 10h ago
Why wouldn’t a server share tips with the kitchen??? The people in the kitchen have a harder and more important job. They should give out a LOT MORE than 5-8%
And 15-20% is outrageously high for Canada. That’s a generous tip for the US where servers only get $2/hour and need tips to get up to $15/hour. In Canada you already get minimum wage to start.
This is exactly why I don’t like tipping. So entitled.
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u/Pretty-Club-2146 7h ago
Of course the money should be shared with the kitchen. However when you don't tip the 5-8% doesn't come out of my tips it comes out of my pocket. Which yes I agree is a systematic issue it's frustrating when someone racks up $400 bill and now I owe $30 out of my own pocket...
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u/thisissuremyusername 6h ago
It doesn’t come out of your pocket. Quite lying. It comes out of your tip money. You still legally have to get paid minimum wage in Alberta no matter what.
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u/Pretty-Club-2146 6h ago
I am aware.... but the $30 came out of MY WALLET... 😭😭 it's not calculated based on tips but based on revenue... just tell me you haven't worked in the service industry it's chill...
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u/thisissuremyusername 6h ago
It came out of your wallet and you still averaged WELL ABOVE minimum wage for your shift. Again, that’s sooo misleading.
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u/BreakfastNo1983 6h ago
This is what grinds my gears bro 90% of jobs you don’t get tipped so why are these people so entitled to tips. It makes no sense to me and sometimes it feels like they’re holding a gun to your head to get you to tip. If I was a politician I would abolish tips
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u/Pretty-Club-2146 6h ago
I'm not saying you HAVE to tip, I am just saying that money does come out of my pocket if you don't. The money people tip me has allowed me to pay my rent, put food on my table and attend university and is enough to pay for that and pretty much only that.
Without the support I get for giving service I would not be able to afford to be educated, put food on my table, and work towards my career. I am always grateful for tips as they are NOT EXPECTED but rather APPRECIATED... by me to say the least. Continue not to tip, but know that it is genuinely appreciated when you do, at least by me and the people I directly work with.
I have had occasions where I don't receive great service and I only tip 5% to cover tip out and move on.
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u/MutedAd4713 5h ago
Just because you work as a server doesn't mean you deserve more than others.
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u/Pretty-Club-2146 5h ago
go read some of my other comments on this thread and gain some perspective
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u/Dapper_Wallaby_1318 Alumni - Faculty of Science 10h ago
Servers should share tips with the kitchen, but the system fails when there are people who don’t tip and servers end up paying the kitchen out of pocket. You’ve obviously never worked in the industry or know anybody who has. Servers are entitled to get paid for working (as is everybody else) and when people don’t tip, they end up paying money to work. If you don’t like it, don’t eat out.
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u/thisissuremyusername 10h ago
Servers never pay the kitchen out of pocket. I’m tired of servers making stuff up to try to guilt people into tipping. It’s such entitled behaviour.
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u/Pretty-Club-2146 7h ago
I have on multiple occasions had to put in $15-30 to cover the tip out at the end of the night.
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u/thisissuremyusername 6h ago
Yeah you put in $15-$30 after a night of making $45/hour. I don’t care.
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u/meazlyy 10h ago
Servers DO pay the kitchen out of pocket. Most places will have a mandatory tipout of anywhere between 6-12%. If your bill is $100 and you leave 0, that tipout still has to be paid by the server. If you don't want to tip that's fine, but at least understand how the system works, and next time you sit down and don't tip your server they did actually lose money serving you.
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u/dokdo227 7h ago
No they don’t. That is very illegal so if you know of an establishment that does that report it.
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u/thisissuremyusername 9h ago
Good. The kitchen staff should get the majority of the tip in my opinion. They have the more important job.
And stop acting like the server looses money if you don’t tip. That’s just not true. Restaurants must pay minimum wage no matter what. Not tipping might bring them down from $30 to $28 for that hour.
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u/meazlyy 9h ago
The tip given to the server isn't split to the kitchen, the BILL percentage is. Whether you tip a server 15, 10 or 0 percent doesn't matter, the server still tips out whatever their restaurant tells them to. And yes, servers do lose money when you don't tip. You've clearly never worked in the industry which is totally fine, but don't act like you know how it works.
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u/thisissuremyusername 9h ago
They don’t lose money, they just don’t make as much.
They are still getting well above minimum wage. And in many cases, more than the kitchen staff.
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u/meazlyy 9h ago
As someone who's worked in restaurants both FOH and BOH, yes I've seen servers OWE money to the restaurant. Is it illegal? Sure, but add that to the many things restaurants do that are shady. And guess what? You going out and eating is still supporting the business model you dislike, and exclusively hurting the server.
But, no point explaining things to someone that can't process information properly. Good luck at uni!
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u/thisissuremyusername 9h ago
Honey, don’t argue with me. I’m not going to top 20% to someone who already makes minimum wage no matter what just so the server can be entitled and refuse to share with kitchen staff. Buh bye
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u/Weak_Tea_1976 1d ago
Tip if the service is GOOD, they have to earn it. If the subway worker really loads up the sandwich maybe they deserve it. If they don’t do anything special then don’t. They don’t NEED it but if they earn it why not
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u/luars613 19h ago
Tipping is not a thing from where i am and i will never tip. Fk that. Why through money away?? Why gice people woth a wage more money wtf. One signs a co tract knowing how much they will make. Is not my responsibility to pay others employees
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u/yeli1442 22h ago
If you don’t tip, the server ends up owing money to the restaurant. So basically the server is PAYING to SERVE YOU. $15 is not enough to make a living. Many students work as servers. These are your peers. Be mindful.
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u/RatticusFlinch 11h ago
They are not paying to serve you. It might reduce tips but they're guaranteed at least minimum wage per hour. It can't be reduced below this. Tons of people, especially students make only minimum wage and get zero tips.
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u/yeli1442 6h ago
Then those students should find a job that they can make extra money instead of supporting corporations who do not pay their employees enough and must rely on tips! It is a never-ending cycle of greed. I am not the enemy! Everyone on this page has student-debt, me included.
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u/RatticusFlinch 6h ago
You just gave the argument to not tip? I agree let's stop supporting places that don't pay their workers INCLUDING sit-down restaurants.
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u/yeli1442 6h ago
I gave the argument that we are the little guys and we have no say but to make money the way that capitalism wants us to. But sure don't tip your peers.
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u/thisissuremyusername 11h ago
McDonald’s workers have a harder job and they get $15/hour and zero tips. So why does someone at a restaurant now deserve tips?
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u/yeli1442 6h ago
I have worked at Mcdonald's and also a high-end restaurant. The restaurant is much more physically and mentally demanding.
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u/thisissuremyusername 6h ago
LMAO. I’ve also worked at McDonald’s and as a waiter. McDonald’s is way more stressful.
And you think it’s PHYSICALLY demanding??😂 forget the guys working on an oil rig…being a server is physically demanding? Ummm???
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u/yeli1442 6h ago
Oil riggers make good money. At my job, we have no hostess', no expo. We run our own food, we sit people ourselves, we manage 5+ tables at once, run our own drinks. Yes !! it is physically demanding. Not to mention remembering the 100 things you must do for all of your tables. It seems you had a bad experience in the serving industry and I am so sorry for that but do not take it out on service workers
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u/thisissuremyusername 5h ago
I’m sorry but you’re not describing an overly difficult job. The guys in the kitchen work harder. And their job is more important.
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u/yeli1442 5h ago
Kitchen staff earn higher wages, and make 10-15% of our tips. Nobody said overly difficult. But it is physically demanding. What do you do for work
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u/MutedAd4713 5h ago
No they don't lmao. BOH up until line cooks earn $15 plus 10% tip. It's only the sous's and head chef who earn more. You don't need to make things up to defend your ridiculous position.
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u/yeli1442 4h ago
I work at a restaurant that is not a chain and all of the kitchen staff are paid $25 plus. During Christmas when it is busier from large bookings, the kitchen staff who work more earn a higher percentage of our tips. Clearly you have no idea that things differ between establishments. I have worked there for 6 years. If you cannot afford to tip just say that.
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u/yeli1442 6h ago
FYI I do not tip unless I am being serviced. This includes a sit-down restaurant, hair, nails etc
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u/superchimmie Alumni - Faculty of Science 1h ago
I stopped tipping a while ago. It’s also not a culture where i come from. Then I when i started working in Canada, life got more and more expensive while my pay didn’t change much.
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u/Enough_Advice8059 28m ago
I really only ever tip at restaurants or when buying from small businesses, but that’s about it.
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u/TheFinalFunction Staff - Health Sciences 1d ago
I don't tip. I never understood it despite being born and growing up here. I'll tip my hair stylist or delivery drivers, but never restaurant staff, which I know isn't a popular opinion
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u/skuseisloose Undergraduate Student - Faculty of Education (After Degree) 23h ago
If it’s take out or a fast food place I wouldn’t tip. If it’s a sitdown restaurant 15% is standard. A lot of people tip taxis/uber drivers but I think it’s more normal to just pick a dollar value rather than a percentage.
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u/Jolly-Sock-2908 Alumni - Faculty of Arts 18h ago
On your point about a minimum wage, it is so low across every Canadian province that it is either difficult or impossible to survive on it as a single person working full time. And Alberta’s is on the way to becoming the lowest minimum wage in Canada. I don’t know of any province that indexes their minimum wage to inflation. Alberta certainly doesn’t.
Look up each province’s “living wage” and compare it to the legislated minimum wage to get an idea of the discrepancies.
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u/RatticusFlinch 11h ago
Except when you're also a minimum wage worker, tipping someone else to help them when you're also struggling is ludicrous.
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u/Danneyland Alumni - Faculty of Arts 6h ago
BC's minimum wage is actually adjusted annually based on inflation. It's currently $18.25.
Changes were made to the Employment Standards Act in 2024 to ensure annual minimum wage increases occur automatically based on B.C.’s average monthly inflation rate from the previous year. (news.gov.bc.ca)
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u/MutedAd4713 5h ago
Who cares? Almost every uni student who has a job is doing minimum wage work. Sure, if you're a working professional you can tip. But why should somoene who is earning the 'unlivable' wage you describe have to give up even more to pay for someone else?
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u/thisissuremyusername 11h ago
No. We need to stop tipping.
Tipping is only a thing because in the US some people would only make $2/hour and tips would bring them up to $15/hour.
In Canada everyone already gets paid $15/hour so tips bring them up to $30/hour. But for some reason Canadians just copy whatever the US does.
There are some exceptions I always tip my barber after a haircut. At a restaurant I leave a 10% tip at most. No need to tip at a cafe or fast food restaurant.
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u/Slow_Succotash8903 2h ago
I hope that's true, what percentage of the population would you say tip? Me like OP is an international student coming from Malaysia and we don't have a tipping culture at all.
I personally am not too keen on tipping...I'm skint as it is•
u/thisissuremyusername 1h ago
It depends where. I always tip my barber for sure. I only tip 12% at restaurants. It used to be 10%-12% in Canada. And 15% in the US. But now Americans tend to do 18%-22% so now 15%-20% has become more common in Canada (even though servers get paid full minimum in Canada unlike the US). I also tip less than most people.
If you’re at a restaurant, tip 15% if you don’t want any bad looks. Or tip 10% if you don’t care what anyone thinks like me lol.
I never tip at Starbucks, Cafes, or fast food restaurants.
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u/Slow_Succotash8903 28m ago
Stupid question, when you say 10-12% and all those percentages, do you mean that if the tab say is $100, then you pay 10-12% of the tab's amount as tip?
Once again, this is just coming from someone who's never had experience with tipping culture, but that seems like a lot!!!
And 18-22% in the US sounds almost excessive???
Can't say I like this tipping culture very much, but I do understand that some servers need the tip money to get by.
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u/wdodoo 1d ago
idk. i only tip when i sit down and eat. most of the time i order pick up though and dont tip. also for the barber i do tip