In this episode of the "Is It Canadian?" series, the host examines the ownership and Canadian identity of A&W restaurants. He begins with the brand’s U.S. origins in the late 1910s, when hotel owner Roy Allen acquired a root‑beer recipe and partnered with Frank Wright to launch A&W in California. The early franchise model protected the syrup recipe, and the chain later added food items. A&W entered Canada in 1956, initially under American ownership that changed hands several times. In 1972 Unilever bought all Canadian locations, and in the mid‑1990s a management buyout by Canadian franchise owners transferred ownership to Canadians. The owners then created a publicly traded trademark trust on the Toronto Stock Exchange that collected a 3 % royalty on sales. Recently the trust was merged into the main company, which now trades publicly; roughly 60 % is held by the original management group and about 20 % by Canadian private‑equity firm Torquest Partners, with the remainder public. The company is headquartered in North Vancouver, sources most beef, chicken, and potatoes locally, and its franchises are largely owned by Canadians. The host notes the franchise cost (~$700,000) and rates A&W’s Canadian status as 7/10, concluding it is mostly Canadian but not entirely. He ends with a call for viewer comments, promotion of upcoming episodes, and social media links.
Chapters
Hello and welcome to Is It Canadian? The series where I tell you if your favourite store is actually Canadian owned. This episode: A&W. And buckle in, this one's a little complicated. So back in the late 1910s, an American hotel owner named Roy Allen met a chemist who said he'd created this really nice drink called root beer. Allen bought the recipe and it became so popular he hired a guy named Frank Wright to help him sell it. And in 1920, eventually they opened a couple of restaurants in California. Allen and Wright. A&W. The root beer was a hit, partially because of the taste, but also remember back then it was Prohibition, so having the word "beer" in the name of the product, it kind of made those two guys like early edgelords. It was a franchise business from the start, mostly to keep the root beer recipe away from the restaurant owners. All the franchisees did was order the syrup, they didn't know how to actually make it. A&W started adding food like sandwiches, not burgers yet, and grew, and they sold the root beer business off to some guy in 1950. Now in 1956, that's when they started expanding into Canada. First Winnipeg, then Montreal. It was still owned by Americans, though that ownership changed a bunch of times to a fruit conglomerate, then some other big company, then another one. Always Americans though. And by the mid-1970s, A&W had more restaurants than McDonald's. Then in 1972, Unilever—yes, that Unilever—bought all the Canadian restaurants. They got a bunch of the franchise owners to act as the management group, and 22 years later in the mid-1990s, Unilever sold the Canadian operations to that management group, all Canadian franchise owners. But here's where it gets complicated, but we're close, so bear with me. While those guys privately owned the company, they also set up a publicly traded trust on the Toronto Stock Exchange that held the value of A&W's trademarks. Those trademarks were licensed back to the restaurant owners, and that trust collected 3% of the sales for the trouble. Then just a few months ago, that trademark trust was folded into the main company, which began trading on the TSE as the main A&W. And because part of it is publicly held, we can't be sure how much of the company is owned by Canadians, but we can get close. This new entity, almost 60% of it is held by the same people who owned the main management company. At least it did when they first launched. And of the other 40% that was public, we know that Torquest Partners, a Canadian private equity firm, initially owned about 20% of the new company shares. So most of the ownership is still Canadian, but probably not all of it. Now, it is still headquartered in Canada, North Vancouver to be precise, and Canada has good beef and chicken and potato suppliers, so most of its supply chain comes from Canada, and you know, all the employees and so on. And there's still franchises mostly owned, we can assume, by locals. Oh, and you can buy one too if you want. It costs about $700 grand. So is the A&W in your town Canadian? Mostly? Probably? 7 out of 10 Banuks. Follow me because next up are Boston Pizza, Lululemon, McCain Foods, and Canadian Tire. Are any of them actually Canadian owned? You will be surprised. Tell me in the comments what other store you think I should do next. Follow me on Bluesky and Twitch, and here is your daily otis.
