The announcement was made in a press release issued by McDonald’s Canada on Tuesday. And naturally, the delivery service is called “McDelivery”. Home delivery service is now available at 187 of the company’s restaurants located in Toronto and the Greater Toronto area, Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton. By the end of the summer, McDonald’s Canada is anticipating home delivery will be available in Calgary as well, raising the number of participating restaurants to 250. By the end of August, the number of restaurants offering delivery will be 145 in Toronto and the GTA. This is followed by Edmonton (43), Montreal (31), Calgary (20) and Ottawa (18).
This delivery is available as a result of a partnership between the fast food giant and UberEATS. After downloading the UberEATS app, a person can order McDonald’s food from the nearest participating restaurant with the touch of a button and have it delivered right to their door.
Monica LaBarge, an assistant professor at Queen’s University’s business school, called the partnership between McDonald’s and UberEATS “interesting.” She said there is little overlap between the two companies so both McDonald’s and UberEATS must believe they can grow their respective enterprises. LaBarge said, “The more stuff we get delivered, the less likely we are to want to leave the house for anything else.” The professor expects to see more of this type of activity in the future.
Offering home delivery in Canada follows similar moves by McDonald’s in the U.S. in the spring and in the U.K.
McDonald’s Canada first broached the subject of home delivery back in 2015 when the company planned to restructure. At that time, sales were deceasing and the McDonald’s was facing stiff competition from other franchises such as Five Guys and Steak Shack.
Dave Roberts, Senior Vice President National Operations of McDonald’s Canada, said the company is excited to offer McDelivery to provide customers with more choices to enjoy McDonald’s food wherever and whenever they want. McDonald’s Canada is looking forward to expanding home delivery to more and more areas.
All menu items will be available for home delivery with the exception of soft serve ice cream cones. As Sadaf Ahsan, writing in the National Post put it, McDonald’s hasn’t yet come up with a way to deliver it fast enough.
