So, you want to open a breakfast restaurant.
You’ve picked the most important meal of the day. Good start.
But once you’ve decided that a breakfast or brunch franchise might be right for you, there’s another pretty important question:
Where should you open it?
Canada is a big place, and a great restaurant concept still needs the right market, the right neighbourhood and enough hungry people nearby.
There isn’t one magic city where every restaurant franchise will succeed. But there are Canadian markets that are especially interesting right now for entrepreneurs considering a breakfast franchise.
Here are a few we’d be watching.
Calgary, Alberta
Let’s start with a hard one to ignore.
Calgary has been growing quickly. In fact, the Calgary metropolitan area grew by approximately 2.9% between July 2024 and July 2025, putting it among the fastest-growing major metropolitan areas in Canada.
More people means more neighbourhoods, more families, more businesses and, importantly for us, more people wondering where they’re going for breakfast on Sunday morning.
For a breakfast franchise, Calgary offers the combination of a large metropolitan market and continued population growth.
And Calgary knows brunch.
That’s a pretty good combination.
Edmonton, Alberta
We wouldn’t talk about Alberta without talking about Edmonton.
Edmonton’s metropolitan population grew approximately 3% over the same period, slightly ahead of Calgary and among the strongest growth rates in Canada.
That makes Edmonton particularly interesting for restaurant concepts looking beyond Canada’s traditionally dominant Toronto and Vancouver markets.
A growing population doesn’t automatically guarantee a successful restaurant, of course. Location, competition, demographics and execution still matter.
But if you’re researching where to open a restaurant franchise in Canada, Edmonton deserves a serious look.
Greater Toronto Area, Ontario
Toronto doesn’t need much of an introduction.
It’s Canada’s largest metropolitan market, which means an enormous potential customer base, but also plenty of competition.
That’s why we’d look beyond simply saying “Toronto.”
The GTA is really a collection of individual markets and neighbourhoods, each with its own demographics, restaurant scene and opportunities.
For a breakfast franchise, the right suburban market can be just as interesting as downtown, particularly in areas with growing residential communities, families and strong weekend dining traffic.
Yolks already has a presence in the Toronto market with our Bloor West Village restaurant, so we know there’s an appetite for a proper breakfast around here.
Pun absolutely intended.
Ottawa, Ontario
Ottawa is another market we like for breakfast and brunch.
It’s one of Canada’s largest urban markets, but it’s also a city made up of very distinct neighbourhoods, which is something worth considering when you’re evaluating restaurant locations.
The right breakfast spot doesn’t necessarily need to be in the middle of downtown. A neighbourhood with strong residential density, walkability and a local dining culture can be just as compelling.
We’ve seen that ourselves with Yolks in the Glebe.
Sometimes the neighbourhood matters just as much as the city.
Montreal and Greater Montreal, Quebec
Montreal knows food.
That can make it a challenging market, but it also makes it an exciting one.
People here have opinions about where they eat, where they get coffee and, yes, where they go for brunch.
Greater Montreal is one of Canada’s largest metropolitan markets, but the opportunity isn’t limited to downtown Montreal.
The surrounding communities create a number of distinct markets with their own customer bases.
Yolks entered Quebec through Dollard-des-Ormeaux in the West Island, giving the brand a foothold in a completely different kind of Montreal market.
And if you’ve ever tried getting a brunch table in Montreal on a Sunday, you already know people here take breakfast pretty seriously.
Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, British Columbia
We couldn’t make this list without Vancouver.
It’s home.
Yolks started in Vancouver, and the city remains an important part of the brand today.
But just like Toronto and Montreal, the bigger opportunity isn’t necessarily limited to the city itself.
The Lower Mainland includes a collection of communities with very different populations, development patterns and restaurant markets.
That’s one reason Yolks has expanded beyond its Vancouver locations into Tsawwassen.
When you’re evaluating a franchise territory, sometimes the opportunity isn’t where everyone else is looking.
What Actually Makes a Good Market for a Breakfast Franchise?
Population growth is useful.
But we wouldn’t recommend choosing a restaurant location because you saw a city on a “fastest-growing cities” list.
There are a lot more questions to ask.
Who lives nearby?
How many competing breakfast and brunch restaurants are there?
Is the area growing?
What’s the daytime population?
Is there enough parking?
Is it walkable?
What’s the commercial rent?
Are people already travelling to the neighbourhood to eat?
And perhaps most importantly:
Can you picture a Yolks there?
The city gets you into the general area.
The neighbourhood, site and operator are what make the restaurant work.
Breakfast Is Having a Moment
There’s also a bigger reason we’re excited about the category.
Recent Canadian foodservice data has shown growth in breakfast’s share of food orders, reinforcing something we’ve believed for a long time: Canadians really like breakfast.
That doesn’t mean opening a breakfast restaurant is suddenly easy.
Restaurants are never easy.
But it does suggest there continues to be plenty of interest in the breakfast category.
We can work with that.
Where Could the Next Yolks Be?
Yolks started with one breakfast concept in Vancouver and has grown into multiple Canadian markets.
We’re not interested in putting a Yolks on every corner just for the sake of saying we did.
The right market matters.
The right location matters.
And the right franchise partner definitely matters.
If you’re looking at breakfast franchise opportunities in Canada and wondering whether Yolks could work in your city, we’d love to hear from you.
Maybe the next pin on the map is yours.