Costco announces plans for grocery home delivery in Canada

Costco may deliver groceries Retailer joins list of companies looking to home delivery for food. CTV Ottawa's Katie Griffin reports.

Costco’s expansive warehouse will soon be just a click away for Canadians.

The retailer has announced plans to begin online grocery delivery to homes in Canada after a successful launch in the U.S. last year.

The company also recently expanded a fresh grocery delivery partnership with the web service Instacart, which teamed with Loblaw in Canada to begin deliveries in Toronto and Vancouver late last year.

The announcement comes at a time when grocers all over North America face increasing competition from online retailers like Amazon, which last year bought supermarket chain Whole Foods in a multi-billion dollar acquisition. Walmart also announced this week it would expand its online grocery delivery offering to more than 100 cities in the U.S.

For customers like Ottawa’s Sandy Woods, it would be a godsend. As she loaded her haul into the trunk of her car this week, she hoped it might be one of her last visits to the wholesale warehouse.

“I can sit at home in my La-Z-Boy and read, or paint, or do anything but be out in this weather,” Woods told CTV Ottawa during a snowfall.

But the reaction from customers in this Ottawa Costco parking lot were varied. One woman worried the service would cost members who prefer to shop in person. “I wouldn’t want it coming out of my membership fee because I wouldn’t use it,” she said.

Other shoppers just prefer being on their own two feet. “I use Costco for cardio,” said a second woman.

Sandra Lajoie also enjoys shopping in person instead of online, less for her cardiovascular health than the ability to choose her own groceries down to the specific apple.

“Feeling stuff, looking at it, smelling it — so I probably wouldn’t use it,” she said. “But it’s a nice idea for homebound people.”

People like Woods, who are eager to stay in their La-Z-Boys and get their next Costco haul delivered to their doorstep. The company has not announced when the service will begin in Canada.

“It better get here soon,” said Woods. “At least by next winter.”

With files from CTV Ottawa’s Katy Griffin