Instacart’s retail partners now include all of Canada’s biggest grocers

Instacart has landed new partnerships with 10 Canadian retailers, extending the online grocery giant’s retail partner base north of the border to include Canada’s five largest grocery retailers.

San Francisco-based Instacart said Tuesday that new Canadian delivery partners include food and drug retailer Metro Inc. Ontario customers can now shop from Metro’s selection of more than 26,000 grocery and pharmacy items for delivery in as soon as an hour. Other new Canadian delivery retail partners include discount store chain Giant Tiger, specialty grocer Galleria Supermarket, organic grocer Super Natural Market, health food market Nature’s Emporium, specialty grocer and cheese maker Grande Cheese Markets and gourmet foods and gifts retailer Dolce & Gourmando, as well as pet supplies chain Menagerie Pet Shop and sports nutrition retailers Popeye’s Supplements and Healthy Planet.

Besides Montreal-based Metro, Instacart now provides delivery service to Loblaw Cos., Walmart Canada and Costco Wholesale in Canada. Sobeys Inc., Canada’s second-largest supermarket operator, doesn’t currently partner with Instacart for delivery but offers the Caper smart shopping cart — acquired by Instacart in October 2021 — in selected stores. Sobeys provides its own Voilà delivery service through a partnership with Ocado Group.

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“We’re proud to deepen our presence across Canada and serve as a retail enablement platform for key retailers countrywide, from the largest grocers to small businesses and local favorites,” Chris Rogers, vice president of retail at Instacart, said in a statement. “We know that the demand for same-day delivery of groceries and essential goods is ubiquitous across Canada, and we’re committed to creating more ways for Canadians to connect with retailers of all sizes. We’ll continue to increase our footprint across Canada and create the best online grocery shopping experience possible for both our retail partners and customers.”

Instacart's 10 new retail partners, along with other retail expansions, extend its reach to about 90% of Canadian households, covering all 10 provinces.

Discount retailer Dollarama, arts and crafts chain Michaels and office supplies chain Staples also are growing their partnerships with Instacart to provide same-day delivery across Canada. The 10 new retail partners, along with the retail expansions, extend Instacart’s delivery reach to about 90% of Canadian households, covering all 10 provinces.

Ottawa-based Giant Tiger Stores currently offers Instacart’s service from more than 180 of its 260-plus stores across Canada, serving up an online assortment of grocery, health and beauty, and household products for on-demand delivery.

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“To better support our customers and access the rapidly growing market of same-day grocery delivery, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with Instacart to make it even easier for Canadians to shop smart and save smart every day,” commented Simon Rodrigue, senior vice president and chief digital officer at Giant Tiger. “This service is an excellent advantage to our loyal customers, and now more than 180 Giant Tiger stores will have access to our products for same-day delivery. This partnership will help more Canadians to experience Giant Tiger’s fun and easy shopping experience and solidify our position as Canada’s favorite discount retailer.”

To access Instacart delivery via Metro, Loblaws, Walmart, Costco, Giant Tiger, Dollarama, Michaels and other retailers, customers go online to Instacart.ca or open the Instacart App and select their preferred store.   

“We applaud Instacart’s work with Canadian retailers, particularly the small businesses that are the backbone of the Canadian economy,” stated Barry Lanteigne, president of Distribution Canada Inc., a Burlington, Ontario-based independent grocery buying group, whose members include Galleria Supermarket. “As independent grocers continue to evolve their omnichannel strategies, we look forward to continuing our work with Instacart to bring independent grocers across Canada online.”

Instacart began laying the foundation to grow its online grocery delivery business in Canada in 2018 with plans to expand its Toronto technology hub and add staff in such areas as engineering, product, design, and research and development. The first two Instacart retail partners in Canada were Loblaw, starting in December 2017 (and expanding to its Shoppers Drug Mart chain in June 2019), and Walmart, beginning in September 2018.

Overall in North America, Instacart partners with more than 750 national, regional and local retailers and provides online shopping, delivery and pickup from more than 70,000 stores in over 5,500 cities. In the United States, Instacart’s services reach more than 85% of U.S. households.