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As the restaurant landscape continues to evolve, so do the tools needed to keep up. Canadian restaurants are asking for more flexibility, more personalization and less complexity in their daily operations. Whether it’s streamlining service during a lunch rush or managing your costs across locations, owners are hungry for solutions that just work — and that grow with them.
That’s why Square is rolling out a new set of tools designed to meet those needs head-on. From new hardware that acts as a portable point of sale in your pocket to food and beverage (F&B) software, here’s what’s launching — and how it could help your business run more smoothly.
Portable terminals are gaining ground — Square Handheld speeds up service by letting you do more on the move
Service doesn’t always happen at the counter. From tableside ordering to market stalls and line busting, more Canadian sellers are looking for flexible ways to take orders, process payments and manage inventory on the go.
That’s where Square Handheld comes in — our newest hardware innovation is slim enough to carry in an apron or pocket to serve customers wherever they are: tableside, on the patio or at the bar. Whether you’re taking orders, managing inventory or accepting payments, Square Handheld is ready to go when you are.
Here’s what makes Square Handheld a powerful addition to your setup:
Made for mobility
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Pocketable and lightweight: under 400 grams and just 22 mm (0.86 in) thick — easy to carry in an apron or pocket
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Designed for one-handed use with a 15.7 cm (6.2 in) touchscreen and slim grip
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All-day battery life: handles multiple shifts without recharging
Built-in tools to keep you moving
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Built-in barcode scanner with dedicated button and assistive lighting — perfect for quick stock checks and inventory updates
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Integrated 16MP rear camera for adding product photos to your menu or scanning QR codes
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Durable with IP54 water/dust resistance and Gorilla Glass Victus screen
POS power in your palm
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Accepts tap and chip card payments, mobile wallets and QR codes
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Preloaded with Square Point of Sale software
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Quick settings and push notifications to streamline your workflow on the go
Square Handheld has made us dramatically faster. It’s quick and easy to take orders and payment processing between customer and server is much more pleasant.”
Itamar Shani → Owner & Chef, Chickpea Restaurant, Vancouver, BC
Our servers love Square Handheld. It fits well in their hands, it’s quick and it just works.”
Steve Aldred → Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp.
Innovative tools to improve your bottom line
Canadian food and beverage businesses are navigating rising costs, evolving customer expectations and new ways of delivering service. These releases are designed to help restaurants, cafés and bars stay agile, cut down on third-party fees and run more efficiently day to day:
DoorDash Integration
Streamline operations with our improved native DoorDash integration. Manage your DoorDash menu directly within Square, ensuring accuracy and easy menu and pricing updates.
We operate a seasonal diner at our Fairgrounds. We have been using DoorDash and it’s fantastic that it integrates so well with our POS system. The orders come in, print, and it’s easy for us to mark them as in-progress, ready or picked-up.”
Ian Thompson → General Manager, Caledonia Agricultural Society, Ontario
Get started with DoorDash Integration →
Multichannel menu management
Now you can quickly set up and tweak menus across all locations and channels—easy and hassle-free.
Consolidated Orders tab
Consolidate orders from different channels, such as onsite, Square Online and DoorDash in one easy dashboard. Organize orders by server, fulfillment type and more to streamline service**.
Learn more about Consolidated Orders tab →
Speed up service
To enhance the dining experience and improve operational efficiency, restaurants must prioritize turning tables faster. Speedy service enhances customer satisfaction to create “regulars” and increases revenue by allowing you to serve more guests. These new features are built to speed up service and minimize wait times.
Item Splitting
End the fuss when it’s the time to split items across multiple guests’ bills. Make it easier and faster for your staff to handle checkout for larger groups**.
We saved a lot of time with item splits. It dramatically improved all our operations.”
Itamar Shani → Owner & Chef, Chickpea Restaurant, Vancouver, BC
I mean any restaurant that’s like us, I would recommend it to. Obviously you want to have the ability to modify someone’s bill however they want. It makes your customers happy. You can maybe bring in more business.”
Ben Rickerby → General Manager, Danforth Sidebar, Toronto
Learn more about Item Splitting →
Bar Tabs
Let customers preauthorize a tab and pay at the end of the night, making checkout fast and secure for your business**.
Square Kiosk upgrades
Square Kiosk empowers customers to build their own orders and helps shorten wait times. The Square Kiosk app can now handle over 150 menu items effortlessly and you get to choose how to call orders when they’re ready—by name or table number. Additional enhancements are in the works that will provide a faster and more intuitive ordering experience with larger font, image-based menu navigation and instant load times.
Scan to Pay
Free up tables faster and give staff time to serve more diners. With QR codes on receipts, your customers can settle up without having to wait for busy servers to collect payment**.
Get started with Scan to Pay →
Tools to drive growth
Successful restaurateurs balance day-to-day operations with planning for long-term growth. These foundational tools help restaurants stay nimble today and build a stronger business for tomorrow—all in one integrated system.
One Square Point of Sale app
No two businesses operate the same way. A busy brewer, a full service restaurateur and a food truck owner each need different tools to get the job done. That’s why the new Square Point of Sale app is designed to adapt to the way you work — not the other way around. Square is consolidating all POS apps into Square Point of Sale to simplify your operations, save time, and provide easy access to all of Square’s POS tools for business growth. With mode switching, you can now sell merch, place orders and issue a catering invoice without the need for separate apps.
The new Square Point of Sale app makes it easy to manage everything—from concessions to restaurants to merchandise—and to switch between different modes with ease. When you have 19,000 fans at a Calgary Flames game, there’s a lot to manage. Square saves us time and money, and it just works, simplifying our operations on every level.”
Steve Aldred → Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp.
Learn about the updated Square Point of Sale app →
Square Loans
Whether you’re navigating a seasonal slowdown or preparing for an expansion, Square Loans*** can provide fast, flexible funding with no credit checks or hidden fees. Paying back your loan is easy, as it uses a fixed percentage of your daily Square sales.
It doesn’t have to be scary, accepting a loan. The repayment terms are so simple. There’s no surprise. It’s all especially easy for someone who has maybe never borrowed money before.”
Désirée Kretschmar → Owner, Plant Goals, Peterborough, Ontario
Learn more about Square Loans →
Looking ahead
Square is all about making life easier for Canadian food and beverage businesses — with tools that reflect how you actually run your business. Whether you’re serving flat whites, craft beer or fine wines, these updates are coming soon to help you do it better.
On-Demand Delivery
Cut commission fees when customers order directly from your Square website — no delivery staff needed.* Leverage Square’s tools to offer delivery for customers in your area if you don’t have your own couriers or delivery staff.
Quantity-Based Tax Exemption
Quantity-based tax exemption means you can be exempt from certain federal and provincial taxes such as GST, HST or PST when selling items in sufficient quantities, for example, loaves of bread or a dozen bagels. With Square, you can automatically apply the correct tax settings — no manual toggling or second-guessing – streamlining checkout and simplifying tax handling, so you can focus on serving customers faster.
Modifier Quantities
Speed up order entry by allowing customers or staff to specify the quantity of each modifier they’d like to add, whether at the point of sale, the kiosk or online.
To see how these new tools could fit into your setup, reach out to the Square team.
* Some features may require additional subscription plans.
**Existing Square sellers can opt-in to new ‘Order and Pay Capabilities’ including redesigned orders view, Bar Tabs, Scan to Pay and Item Splitting in their Square Dashboard by clicking on Settings → Release Manager → Get Started;
Sellers using Modes can opt-in by navigating to the Modes Page → identify any modes powered by Square for Restaurants → Click into each Mode → Manage → Turn on “Early access POS experience”
***All loans are issued by Square Canada, Inc. Actual fee depends upon payment card processing history, loan amount and other eligibility factors. A minimum payment of 1/18th of the initial loan balance is required every 60 days and full loan repayment is required within 18 months. Offer eligibility is not guaranteed. All loans are subject to approval. Not available in Quebec.
