Overview

We are introducing new protections for restaurants and delivery persons under the Supporting Local Restaurants Act, 2020, in order to help:

  • restaurants address higher fees charged by food delivery service providers
  • delivery persons (couriers) to address reductions to their compensation

For restaurants, you may be eligible to submit a complaint if you are a restaurant that:

  • is not part of a chain
  • is operating in an area where indoor dining is prohibited
  • has been charged more than 20% of the value of a customer order (pre-tax) in commissions and fees by a food delivery service provider
  • has already written to the third-party delivery service provider to identify that the fees paid are above the 20% pre-tax threshold
  • provided the third-party delivery service provider with 15 days to respond your letter

If the food delivery service provider fails to address the concerns in your letter, you may be eligible to submit a complaint.

For delivery persons (couriers), you may be eligible to submit a complaint if you:

  • are a delivery person who has identified a reduction in your compensation after December 19, 2020 as a result of the Supporting Local Restaurant Act, 2020
  • wrote to the food delivery service provider to identify the reduction in compensation
  • provided the food delivery service provider with 15 days to respond to your letter
    • if the food delivery service provider fails to address your letter, you may be eligible to submit a complaint

Who can file a complaint

Restaurants

A restaurant is defined as an establishment that primarily provides food or beverage services to patrons who:

  • order by telephone or online and pay before consuming
  • order and are served while seated and pay after eating
  • who order or select food or beverage items prepared for immediate consumption at a counter, food bar or cafeteria line

A restaurant does not include an establishment that is primarily a grocery store. In addition, the act does not apply to a chain restaurant, which is defined as:

  • a restaurant that is part of a set of related restaurants consisting of 10 or more service premises in Canada that operate under the same or substantially the same name, regardless of ownership, and that offer the same or substantially the same food items

Note: the cap on commissions and fees only applies to those food delivery service providers that service more than 500 restaurants.

Delivery persons (couriers)

A delivery person, or courier, may deliver food/beverage for a delivery service on vehicle, bike or foot.

The act prohibits food delivery service providers from reducing the compensation, or any other payment, for delivery persons (who are employees or contractors) who perform these services.

If you are a delivery person and you have noticed a reduction in your compensation after December 19, 2020 as a result of the Supporting Local Restaurant Act, 2020, you may be eligible to file a complaint with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery.

Note: that the prohibition on reductions to compensation only applies to those food deliver service providers that service more than 500 restaurants.

Submit a complaint

Note: The online complaint form is now closed.

How we handle complaints

Once we receive your complaint, we:

  • will review it to determine if it provides evidence that a violation of the Supporting Local Restaurants Act, 2020 has occurred
  • will determine what steps should be taken in response (including possible enforcement action)
  • may contact you if we require additional information, or if you’re required to appear as a witness in a hearing
  • use the information you provide to help us assess and respond appropriately, effectively to correct marketplace behaviour and promote compliance with the act

If we receive a representative number of complaints that indicate a pattern of non-compliance, we may investigate and if appropriate, lay charges and seek a conviction on prosecution. This means that we will not:

  • investigate or prosecute every complaint we receive
  • mediate a resolution for each complaint

We will not provide updates on the status of individual complaints, however if a complaint is referenced in charges, the filing party may be called as a witness.

For more information about the complaints process, you can contact us at 1-800-889-9768 between 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Fines and penalties

If an individual is convicted, they may be subject to a fine of up to $50,000 and/or a term of imprisonment of no more than one year less a day.

Corporations that are charged and convicted could be fined up to $10 million.

About delivery fees

Restaurants pay fees and commissions to food service delivery providers to allow for the purchase and/or delivery of their food/beverages to customers.

Customers order their food/beverages through the food delivery service provider, and the service provider coordinates the sale directly to the customer by arranging for either:

  • pick up by the customer
  • a delivery person to pick it up from the restaurant and deliver it to the customer

Caps on delivery fees

Due to , some restaurants have significantly adapted their business models by shifting to take-out and delivery from indoor dining. For many businesses, fees paid to food delivery service providers cut into profit margins and significantly impact the ability of their business to survive.

We have limited the total commissions and fees a food delivery service provider can charge a restaurant for food and beverage delivery and related services to a maximum of 20% of the value of the customer order, before HST is charged.

In addition to the cap on all commissions and fees, the legislation also imposes limits that customers can be charged including:

  • a maximum service fee of 15% of the total value of the customer order, before HST for food and beverage delivery services
  • a maximum service fee of 10% of the total value of the customer order, before HST for services that allow the customer to pick up their order from the restaurant

These restrictions do not include any other fees, such as marketing or promotional services, that the restaurant may have agreed to pay to the food delivery service provider that are unrelated to individual orders.

Note: the cap on commissions and fees only applies to those food delivery service providers that service more than 500 restaurants.