What was McDonald's first international restaurant location, opened in 1967?

McDonald's first international restaurant opened in Richmond, British Columbia, in 1967.

The restaurant was in Canada, making the country McDonald's first market outside the United States. This expansion demonstrated that the company's standardized visual identity and operating model could travel beyond its original national setting. The Golden Arches, familiar product names, and bright restaurant presentation helped establish a consistent brand.

The location is sometimes confused with later famous international openings. McDonald's opened its first restaurant in the United Kingdom in 1974, while its first restaurant in the Soviet Union opened in Moscow in 1990. Those openings became major cultural events, but neither was the company's first international step.

Canada also became a significant part of McDonald's long-term global network. The 1967 Richmond opening therefore marks both a specific restaurant milestone and the beginning of the brand's international era.