VICTORIA — British Columbia has become the first province in Canada to implement a permanent cap on fees charged by food-delivery companies.
The Food Delivery Service Fee Act has received Royal Assent in B.C. and will now provide more cost certainty to restaurant and bar owners throughout the province. Specifically, delivery companies can charge restaurants to no more than 20 per cent of the dollar value of an order, echoing similar permanent caps enacted by Seattle and San Francisco.
Additionally, the Food Delivery Service Fee Act prohibits delivery companies from reducing driver compensation, ensuring employees and contractors continue to be paid their wages and gratuities.
“Shifting consumer habits throughout the pandemic led to B.C.’s restaurant industry continuously adapting to stay open and serve their customers,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. “By passing legislation to make the delivery-fee cap a permanent support for restaurants, we’re leading Canada in providing more stability and certainty to the sector itself, and to the delivery drivers who work within it.”
“Restaurants still have some incredible hurdles to overcome in recovering from the pandemic and inflation,” said Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president, western Canada, Restaurants Canada. “Being the first province in Canada to make this fee cap permanent, B.C. is demonstrating the type of forward-thinking solutions that will help the restaurant sector remain viable for the long term.”
“The economy and workforce have changed dramatically in recent years, and we’re seeing the growth of the gig economy and the integral services gig workers provide,” said Adam Walker, parliamentary secretary for the New Economy. “That’s why we’ve made sure this legislation protects food-delivery drivers from costs being downloaded onto them from providers, so they can continue to receive fair compensation.”
