Guides
Comparing Restaurant Delivery Apps for Canadian Independents: SkipTheDishes, DoorDash, Uber Eats
Restaurant delivery app comparison Canada: how SkipTheDishes, DoorDash and Uber Eats differ on commission, GST/HST and Quebec French-language menu rules.
What to take away
- Commission is negotiated, not published. Treat a quoted band such as 15 to 30 percent as an opening position and model your margin at the top of it.
- SkipTheDishes holds the deepest diner habit in Prairie cities and smaller markets. DoorDash and Uber Eats are denser in the big metros.
- GST/HST runs through both sides of the deal, so reconcile commission invoices against your point of sale instead of netting them out.
- Quebec language rules reach the delivery menu you publish, including the fields you fill inside an app.
- None of the three hands you the diner relationship. Treat them as paid acquisition.
The criteria that decide the comparison
A restaurant delivery app comparison in Canada tends to become an argument about brand recognition. The variables that actually move margin are contractual, and they come down to what you pay, who owns the customer, and how easily you leave.
Deciding how delivery sits beside your own channels comes before any platform negotiation, and restaurant marketing works through that order of decisions.
| Criterion | SkipTheDishes | DoorDash | Uber Eats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative commission band | 15 to 30 percent | 15 to 30 percent | 15 to 30 percent |
| Relative strength in Canada | Prairie cities, smaller markets | Ontario and BC metros, dense suburbs | Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal cores |
| Habit it rides on | Longstanding regional use | Subscription bundling | Subscription bundling |
| Reporting detail | Varies by account tier | Varies by account tier | Varies by account tier |
| Diner account owner | The platform | The platform | The platform |
| Contract terms | Negotiated province by province | Negotiated market by market | Negotiated market by market |
Two rows in that matrix are identical on purpose. The restaurant keeps the kitchen. The platform keeps the ranking, the pricing levers and the customer file. No amount of negotiation changes that split.
Commission structures and GST/HST
Commission is usually a percentage of the order subtotal. Some contracts add a delivery fee charged to the diner, and a promotional fee charged back to you. Rates are set per account, so two restaurants on the same block can pay different amounts. Ask for the number in writing in CAD before you move a menu over.
GST/HST applies to the food sale and generally to the delivery fee. The commission your business pays also carries the tax, and a registered restaurant can usually claim an input tax credit on that portion. The CRA GST/HST pages set out registration and filing.
Promotional fees are advertising bought at the moment of the order. Restaurant advertising covers the spending you control before a diner ever opens the app.
Quebec and the French-language menu
Quebec's Charter of the French Language requires commercial communication with consumers to be in French. Amendments that took effect in 2022 tightened the rule that French be markedly predominant when another language also appears. A delivery menu is commercial communication.
Keep French item names, descriptions and allergen notes in the platform dashboard, then verify them after every price edit. A platform representative may not raise the requirement with you. The owner carries it.
Where each platform is the right choice
SkipTheDishes is the right first channel for an independent in Saskatoon, Winnipeg or a smaller Ontario town. It is the Canadian entrant that predates the global platforms across most of the Prairies, and diner habit there is real.
DoorDash suits the Greater Toronto Area, the Lower Mainland and suburban Alberta, where subscription bundling pulls repeat orders. Operators who want promotional reach without building an app tend to get more from it.
Uber Eats fits a downtown Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal address where office lunch demand dominates. Its diner base also arrives from outside food delivery, which widens the pool.
Example: two weeks on three platforms
The comparison that settles the question is a timed test. Run it like this:
A platform that wins on order volume can still lose once tablet time and packaging are counted.
Two weeks is short, but it usually shows whether the volume is coming from diners you already had. hospitality marketing analytics covers the metrics that survive this kind of test.
What none of the three solve
All three leave the diner relationship with the platform. You cannot email that customer after a poor order, and you cannot stop the platform from promoting a competitor two screens away. Commission is set by the platform's pricing team, not by yours.
A guest loyalty program is the counterweight, because it is the only channel where you hold the list. Delivery still costs packaging, tablet time, refunds and funded discounts. Those sit with the kitchen either way.
Common questions
Do Canadian commissions differ from US rates? The structure is similar, but Canadian contracts are negotiated by market, and the rate offered often reflects how many couriers serve your postal code. Get the quote in CAD.
Who charges GST/HST on a delivery order? The restaurant charges tax on the food it supplies, and the platform charges tax on its commission. Registered businesses can generally claim input tax credits on the commission. Confirm your setup with an accountant.
Does Quebec's language law apply to app menus? Yes. French-language obligations cover commercial communication with consumers, and a delivery menu falls inside that. Keep French copy in the dashboard and check it after updates.
Is one platform enough? For many independents, yes at the start. Adding a second usually lifts gross sales less than expected while adding tablet time. Uber Eats is the usual second channel, worth testing only after the first clears your margin floor.
