Canada was McDonald’s first international market outside the United States. The company opened its first Canadian restaurant in Richmond, British Columbia, in 1967.
The Canadian expansion established a pattern that McDonald’s later repeated worldwide: a consistent visual identity combined with local operations and market adaptation. The Golden Arches and core restaurant format traveled across the border with the brand.
McDonald’s subsequently expanded into other international markets, including Japan in 1971, Germany in 1971, and the United Kingdom in 1974. Those openings are important milestones, but they came after Canada.
A frequent error is naming the United Kingdom because its opening is widely remembered as a major European milestone. Canada was earlier and was the chain’s first country outside the United States to receive a McDonald’s restaurant.