Canada’s first drive-thru-only McDonald’s opens in Winnipeg By: Aaron Epp Posted: 5:29 PM CDT Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

One Grimace and dozens of smiles were on display Wednesday as McDonald’s staff and supporters celebrated the grand opening of the fast-food chain’s first drive-thru-only restaurant in Canada.

The restaurant doesn’t include a lobby and dining area. Instead, staff are focused on serving drive-thru customers, plus patrons who make to-go orders via the McDonald’s app or food delivery services.

The restaurant is situated at the corner of Grant Avenue and Kenaston Boulevard, and will begin serving customers on Friday.

Franchisee Amit Kapoor was flanked by local politicians, including Winnipeg Couns. Markus Chambers and Janice Lukes, as he cut a red ribbon to mark the grand opening.

Grimace — the large, purple mascot used in McDonald’s advertising — took photos with attendees and musician Jessie Christian serenaded the crowd with Fall Out Boy and Hanson covers as restaurant staff served a buffet of burgers and fries.

“It feels lovely,” Kapoor said of opening the restaurant. “It feels beautiful.”

McDonald’s Canada has long wanted to open a location next to the Real Canadian Superstore at 550 Kenaston Blvd., but the property couldn’t accommodate a traditional, 4,000-square-foot restaurant, he said.

After opening two drive-thru-only McDonald’s restaurants in the United States — one in Texas and another in California — the company decided to bring the concept north of the border.

“The whole idea is quick service and good customer service,” Kapoor said.

The new site is one storey and 2,000 sq. ft. It will employ around 50 people and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The whole idea is quick service and good customer service.”

McDonald’s Canada built the drive-thru-only location in response to consumer demand, according to Simon Gregory, the company’s B.C.-based director of field operations, who attended Wednesday’s celebration.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to fill where our customers need us to be,” he said. “This was a great location for us to be in.”

Winnipeg city council reviewed a proposal for the restaurant in November. The proposal required council to change a caveat attached to the property that prohibits businesses other than the existing grocery store, gas bar and garden centre. Council also needed to exempt the restaurant from the rule that businesses only operate at the site from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Chambers said he championed the new restaurant from the beginning, in part because his first-ever job was at a McDonald’s location on Nairn Avenue. It was the late 1970s and he was 15 years old.

“I was making $2.70 an hour, and I mean, it set the groundwork for me to understand how to work, how to show up on time, how to be part of a team,” he said. “Opportunities like that, opportunities for our youth going forward, can lead to greater success in the job market.”

For Kapoor, offering employment opportunities and training staff members to take on greater roles and responsibilities are some of the best parts about being a McDonald’s franchisee.

Born in India, the 53-year-old was living in Kuwait when he immigrated to Canada in 2001. After running a few coffee shops in Toronto, he moved to Winnipeg in November 2015 with his wife and three children to purchase and operate his first McDonald’s.

Nearly 11 years later, Kapoor’s company, Kapson Family Restaurants Ltd., owns 14 McDonald’s franchises across the city that employ around 900 people.

“It gives (me) such pride,” he said, acknowledging his employees’ hard work. “None of this would be possible if I didn’t have the support from the team.”

McDonald’s was founded in San Bernardino, Calif., in 1940 as a restaurant operated by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. The chain’s first restaurant outside the U.S. opened in 1967 in Richmond, B.C.

McDonald’s Canada now operates more than 1,500 restaurants and employs around 100,000 Canadians coast-to-coast-to-coast, Gregory said. That includes 63 locations in Manitoba that are staffed by around 3,000 people.

At the end of last year, the McDonald’s system included more than 45,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. The company reported in 2025, global sales grew seven per cent year-over-year, exceeding US$139 billion.

McDonald’s Canada plans to open its second drive-thru-only restaurant in the coming months in Regina.

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca