Franchises

As part of an aggressive effort to grab market share from rivals Starbucks Corp. and Tim Hortons Inc., food giant McDonald's Corp. has stepped up a java-fuelled Canadian expansion.

A former Vancouver hotel maintenance manager has purchased The Maids franchise for Richmond. U.S-based The Maids is a residential cleaning franchise that specializes in "cleaning for health.

Fast-growing British Columbia franchisor Core Education & Fine Arts (CEFA) has expanded outside the province for the first time - to Calgary. The junior kindergarten franchisor now has 11 schools and signed franchise agreements for 14 more B.C.

How do you take a small idea and turn it into the next big thing in digital marketing? Ask Don McQuaid, owner of RTown Communications, and he'll tell you it's all about thinking big.

The Quebec-based Cora breakfast and lunch restaurant chain is coming to Saskatchewan, with its first location opening later this month (November) in Saskatoon as it expands westward.

Vancouver's Executive Hotels & Resorts has announced that it has opened two new franchised hotels, one in Lloydminster and the other in Regina.

Ontario-based Cara Operations is bringing a Milestones Grill and Bar restaurant to Manitoba. The casual-dining concept, with nearly 50 restaurants in Canada, will be introduced to the province in downtown Winnipeg.

Dark Table has opened in Vancouver's Kitsilano area as the third dining spot from Moe Alameddine and his company, O Noir, where people eat in a totally blacked-out room.

Alberta will allow more semi-skilled foreign foodservice workers in the province than originally planned under a pilot project aimed to give newcomers a better chance of becoming landed immigrants.

Europe-based GeoWash, a franchise in the ecological car-wash business, is expanding rapidly with business in over 30 countries. Now, Canadian franchisee Ali Dohaini has opened the very first GeoWash franchise in Toronto.