Canada became McDonald’s first market outside the United States when the company opened a restaurant there in 1967.
The first Canadian McDonald’s opened in Richmond, British Columbia, near Vancouver. Its arrival marked the beginning of the chain’s international expansion and established a pattern later used in many other countries: a recognizable restaurant design, familiar menu branding, and adaptation to local markets.
McDonald’s had expanded across the United States before entering Canada. The Canadian opening therefore represented a major branding milestone, because the Golden Arches and the company name were being presented to customers beyond the U.S. market for the first time.
The first international location is sometimes mistakenly identified as Japan, Australia, or the United Kingdom. Those markets joined McDonald’s later: Japan opened in 1971, Australia in 1971, and the United Kingdom in 1974.