Today Subway announced the opening of its 1,800th Canadian location. Subway Corp. considers this milestone to be especially significant, as Canada is the brand’s largest market outside of the United States.

Subway opened its first Canadian location in 1986 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and recently surpassed McDonald’s in number of locations in the United States and Canada.

Located inside the Quickie convenience store at 25 Blvd. Sacre-Coeur in Hull, Quebec, the restaurant is owned by Quickie, and operated by Subway franchisees Michel Plastre and his brother-in-law, Andre Laroque. Plastre and Laroque own seven Subway restaurants and operate three others under an agreement with Quickie.

“We are proud to be part of the Subway family and our long relationship with Quickie has allowed our business to expand even further,” says Plastre.

According to Guy Laframboise, Subway development agent for the province of Quebec, the location that the restaurant is in was perfect for a convenience store or shared use opportunity.
“We were very familiar with the area and considered it to have great potential but were concerned about going it alone. Being able to penetrate this profitable market has enabled Subway to maintain its dominance in Canada. The development of shared use locations demonstrates the high degree of flexibility that Subway offers to franchisees and non-traditional operators,” says Laframboise.