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McDonald's Restaurants of Canada, Limited () is the Canadian master franchise of the fast-food restaurant chain
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
, owned by the American parent McDonald's Corporation. One of Canada's largest fast-food restaurant chains, the franchise sells food items – including hamburgers, chicken, French fries and soft drinks – all across the country. McDonald's is known for its high fat and calorie foods. McDonald's was Canada's largest food-service operator before being overtaken by Tim Hortons in 2005. The logo of McDonald's in Canada can be identified by the red
maple leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is most widely recognized as the national symbols of Canada, national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by ...
on the company's golden arches. The slogans used in Canada are ''i'm lovin' it'' in English and in French. McDonald's Canadian operations are headquartered in the
North York North York is a former township and city and is now one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the northern area of Toronto, centred around Yonge Street, north of Ontario Highway 401. It is bounded by ...
area of
Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
, Ontario. The current president and CEO of McDonald's in Canada is Michèle Boudria. As of 2022, McDonald's Canada had 1,462 stores (including restaurants inside many Walmart Canada locations) in Canada, and more than 90,000 Canadian employees.


History

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
-born George Cohon founded the company. The first store opened in 1967 in
Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a city in the coastal Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly a suburban city, it occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough, New Westminster, Queensborough), between the two estuarine dis ...
as the Western Canadian franchisee and operated with the U.S. operations. Cohon was the Eastern Canadian franchise and opened his store in 1968 on Oxford Street West in London, Ontario. In 1971, Cohon merged the two operations to one national operation. Cohon was responsible for developing the eastern Canadian franchises. McDonalds Canada was a food sponsor at
EXPO 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...
with their floating restaurant nicknamed the McBarge. In 1989, McDonald's was awarded the concessionary rights to the newly built SkyDome in Toronto. One of the requirements was to sell hotdogs, resulting in the first time McDonald's sold the product. Part of the stadium also included the largest McDonald's in Canada. The now closed restaurant was located at the base of the
CN Tower The CN Tower () is a communications and observation tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 1976, it is located in downtown Toronto, built on the former Railway Lands. Its name "CN" referred to Canadian National, the railway co ...
. In 1993, the franchise briefly sold hot dogs outside the venue at reduced prices and in unlabelled carts, which was criticized by the other 25 hot dog vendors. The first PlayPlace opened in
Niagara Falls, Ontario Niagara Falls is a city in Ontario, Canada, adjacent to, and named after, Niagara Falls. As of the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census, the city had a population of 94,415. The city is located on the Niagara Peninsula along the western bank of the ...
in 1995. The flagship location opened in 2013 near the Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto.
Poutine Poutine () is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a hot brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec region, though its exact origins are uncertain, and there are several competing claims regar ...
was launched as a menu item nationally in 2013 (it was previously available only in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
). In 2015, the company noted reduced customer traffic. That same year, salads were launched, with sodium and fat content that were comparable to other menu items. Salads were then discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. In 2020, McDonald's partnered with Snapchat, with some job applicants sending 30-second videos through the platform. In 2021, locations in Ontario attached
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
flyers to takeout orders. In February 2025, following the 4 Nations Face-Off with
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, McDonald's Canada temporarily renamed two restaurants in
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
and Newmarket,
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
to McDavid's, named after
Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...
captain
Connor McDavid Connor Andrew McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre and Captain (ice hockey), captain of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Selected first overall by the Oilers ...
.


Scandals

McDonald's Canada was criticized for its use of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program. These workers could be paid less than other employees, which is attractive to employers wishing to cut costs. Three of its franchises in
Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...
were federally investigated for their use of the program. McDonald's Canada also stated that it would conduct a review. In a conference call to the franchisees about the program, McDonald's Canada CEO John Betts stated: "the fact of the matter is we are a big bad company corporate you know, bad company. And these poor maligned employees, are who they are ... This has been an attack on our brand ... This is an attack on our people. It's bullshit." These locations had their permits for the program suspended during the investigation. On May 1, 2023, a McDonald's franchise in Ottawa, referred to as the
Rideau Street McDonald's The Rideau Street McDonald's was an infamous McDonald's restaurant franchise located at 99 Rideau Street in the ByWard Market neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was once dubbed the "'World's Worst McDonald's" by the ''Toronto Star''. ...
due to its location at 99 Rideau Street, was closed indefinitely after the franchise owners chose to not renew their lease. The Rideau McDonald's had been dubbed as the "World's Worst McDonald's" by the ''
Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...
'' due to its reputation of being a "flashpoint for crime". In April 2019, Ottawa Police Chief, Charles Bordeleau, wrote a letter to McDonald's Canada CEO, stating that "Officers of the Ottawa Police Service attend this location on a daily basis to address issues including vagrancy, liquor licence violations, illicit drug use, and incidents of violence," and that he believed the 99 Rideau location was "breaching your standards of operation". In response, McDonald's Canada reduced the restaurants hours from 24 hours to 6 am to 10 pm. In January 2023, the Rideau McDonald's franchise owners stated that they were not renewing their lease and the restaurant would close. In response to the closure, a group of
University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...
students organized a fundraiser and food drive referred to as the Rideau McDonald's Farewell March on March 19, 2023. The Farewell March had over 200 attendees and raised over $1,900 for local charities such as Operation Come Home.


See also

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List of McDonald's products McDonald's is one of the world's largest fast food chains, founded in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, and incorporated in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. Since then, McDonald's has become a household name across the world, known for sellin ...
*
List of hamburger restaurants This is a list of notable hamburger restaurants. A hamburger is a sandwich consisting of one or more cooked patties of ground meat (usually beef) usually placed inside a sliced hamburger bun. Hamburgers are often served with lettuce, bacon, to ...


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdonald's Canada Canadian subsidiaries of foreign companies Companies based in North York Restaurants established in 1967 Fast-food chains of Canada Fast-food franchises McDonald's subsidiaries 1967 establishments in British Columbia