Which city opened the first McDonald’s restaurant outside the United States in 1967?

Richmond, British Columbia, opened the first McDonald’s restaurant outside the United States in 1967.

The restaurant was located near Vancouver, making Canada the first international market in McDonald’s expansion history. Its opening marked a major branding step: the Golden Arches, standardized restaurant design, menu presentation, and service model were moving beyond the company’s home country.

Vancouver is sometimes given as the answer because Richmond is part of the Vancouver metropolitan area. However, the first Canadian McDonald’s was in Richmond, not the city of Vancouver itself. That distinction makes the municipality the more precise answer.

McDonald’s later expanded to many other countries, adapting parts of its menu and marketing to local tastes while retaining core brand elements. Canada became one of the company’s most important early international markets, and the 1967 opening demonstrated that the standardized McDonald’s identity could travel across national borders.