B.C. passes permanent cap on food-delivery charges aimed at restaurants

The B.C. government is the first in Canada to set a permanent cap on food delivery company charges that restaurants face.

The cap is set to start on Sunday, with the goal of helping restaurant owners have “more certainty about their costs.”

This comes after delivery fees rose drastically during the pandemic, with some groups charging restaurants up to 30 per cent of an orders value.

“When restaurants were being charged unfair fees, our government acted fast to implement a temporary cap on delivery-service fees. We’re excited to bring in a permanent cap in the new year that will provide more support to restaurants,” Brenda Bailey, Minster of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, said in a news release.

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Now, the new cap limits companies like Uber and Skip the Dishes to charge restaurants no more than 20 per cent of the dollar value of an order.

“We all have a favourite local restaurant, somewhere we celebrate as families and friends, eat our favourite foods, or get a taste of home,” Bailey said.

The ministry says this is also to help make sure staff, including drivers, are fully paid.

“To ensure drivers are treated fairly, the act prohibits delivery companies from downloading costs onto drivers, ensuring employees and contractors will continue to be paid their wages and gratuities,” it said.

“We’ve seen dramatic growth in app-based delivery 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” Janet Routledge, parliamentary secretary for labour, said in the release.