Grocery Delivery in Canada

My site visitors often write to say "We want grocery delivery in Canada." Many search for grocery delivery in their own home community, and come up empty. Really. My ' grocery-shopping online in Canada' page draws the most attention on this site, and the lack of grocery delivery in their own area is what disappoints them most.

I tried to be positive when writing that page, about the places where one can ask to have groceries delivered. However, it seems my visitors are from all across Canada, and they want grocery delivery in their specific part of Canada. Obviously, there are great opportunities for delivery as an extra service, or as a business idea for others to take up.

There's a real business opportunity here! I know I'm not able to take up this idea, but will gladly share it with those who are interested.

[Another grocery delivery in Canada - now exists in the Edmonton area. See further down for details...]

In July (2015), Joanne, a visitor to my site, wrote: "We would love to have a full grocery service in Kingston, Ontario." There have been a number of others with similar sentiments from different location.

TeleGrocer.com had a service in the Ottawa area, which seems to have faltered. Their contact form bounces back my emails, so I'm not sure if they are still operating or have abandoned their website/idea.

NOTE: I've just discovered that this website is now in Illinois and it serves as a means for elderly and handicapped people, especially those with no computer access, so that they may phone in their orders and the owner, places their grocery orders online at the stores of their choice.

Globe and Mail had an article on the business idea of selling groceries online. It was written in 2000 and updated in 2009, so it may be out of date again, but even then the need for such a service was clearly expressed. It did say that it was odd that the digital era has not dawned yet in the area of grcery delivery in Canada. (Ah, but that may be changing now in 2021!)

If you are looking for a good business idea, and not afraid of work, I would suggest you do your diligent research and see if you can't come up with a great plan. Whether that includes selling as well as grocery delivery, or just delivering groceries to home addresses, etc., I'm sure there is plenty of room for both, and even other ideas to do with grocery delivery in Canada.

The point is; people WANT grocery delivery in Canada!

Who Does Grocery Delivery in Canada? Where?

Let's summarize which stores or business provide grocery delivery and in what parts of Canada.

www.MrCase.com - Updated 2/2017- MrCase.com ships in the Greater Toronto area, and has recently added Burlington and Hamilton too. Their new central warehouse carries over 10,000+ grocery products and also office supplies - sold by the case. Mr. Case delivers to homes and offices (think your workplace lunch room, as well as productivity tools). Though the fees have gone up a bit, they are still quite reasonable. The delivery fee is $10 for orders of $75 or more, and $20 for orders less than $75. They promise next day delivery for orders received before 11:30 a.m. Great! Think, if you can afford whole cases of everything you order, you won't have to order as often. You'd be smart to keep this link handy for special events or parties. In fact, they have an excellent Q&A page with answers to every question you can come up with.

Mama Earth Organics as mentioned above, come to mind first right now. They deliver groceries in the Greater Toronto area (GTA), which includes Toronto, Hamilton, Barrie and Oshawa.

www.grocerygateway.com - for those in the Greater Toronto area, including Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Cambridge, and Kitchener- Waterloo. (But some visitors have commented that they are quite expensive).

Safeway.com - if you have one of these stores in your neighbourhood, (common in both USA and Canada), you have a good chance of grocery delivery if you live within close range of your nearest Safeway. It does cost!

Quality Foods - delivers to 12 specific local areas on Vancouver Island, off the B.C. coast.

NaturalFoodPantry.ca - in the Ottawa, Ontario, area, Billings Gate and Westboro in Ottawa proper, and at Kanata, a short drive south of Ottawa. The Natural Food Pantry fills orders in Canada and the continental USA by mail. International orders are accepted, but shipped by air mail, which has higher costs as they point out.

www./Spud.ca - Grocery Delivery Areas for Canadian Locations include; Vancouver, Victoria, Vancouver Island, and Calgary.

Amazon.ca - There is another option. Ordering non-perishables from Amazon (in Canada), and choosing any of about half a dozen shipping options. Some are faster than others, but more costly. If you read my page above on this you'll find there are pros and cons - sometimes cheaper, sometimes more expensive grocery delivery in Canada.

Walmart.ca - now has a notice up that in the Ottawa area, you can place your grocery order online, (at least $50 worth) and then drive by and for $3 someone will load your groceries into your car.

What about the Rest of Canada?

We see that the major metropolitan areas can have groceries delivered to their door. Ottawa is well covered, the Greater Toronto area is covered for those who like fresh, natural and organic foods, and Vancouver Island is looked after for the most part. Spud.ca delivers in Calgary as well. Now parts of Edmonton have grocery delivery in Canada too.

It's obvious that there is a great opportunity here for new entrepreneurs. Perhaps for those who would both sell and deliver groceries, but possibly a better plan if the grocery delivery is separate from the grocery sales.

I am watching for such businesses, and trying to keep tabs on what happens in this industry. As I become aware of good ones, I'll be sure to report on new services that do grocery delivery in Canada, right here on this page.

More on Grocery Shopping