A permanent cap on fees charged to restaurants by food-delivery companies will start in 2023.
Starting Jan. 1, 2023, Canada's first permanent delivery-fee cap will give B.C. restaurant owners more certainty about their costs.
"We all have a favourite local restaurant, somewhere we celebrate as families and friends, eat our favourite foods, or get a taste of home," says Brenda Bailey, Minster of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation. "When restaurants were being charged unfair fees, our government acted fast to implement a temporary cap on delivery-service fees."
During the pandemic, delivery companies were charging fees to restaurants as high as 30 per cent of an order's value.
The Food Delivery Service Fee Act was passed on Nov. 3 and will limit the fees that delivery companies can charge restaurants to no more than 20 per cent of the dollar value of an order.
This act also allows delivery companies to offer optional, enhanced services for restaurants to opt into at their discretion.
Janet Routledge, Parliamentary Secretary for Labour, says there has been dramatic growth in app-passed work in recent years.
"But we need to ensure workers are treated fairly. It was a priority to include protections for food-delivery workers in this legislation that prevent the costs of the delivery-fee cap from being downloaded onto them," says Routledge.
This act will prohibit delivery companies from downloading costs onto drivers and ensure employees and contractors will continue to be paid their wages and gratuities.
