When Annemarie Swijtink took the helm of McDonald's Canada in September, fast-food companies were facing a lot of heat.
Reduced cattle herds had pushed up the price of ground beef, while climate change and crop disease challenged another restaurant staple: coffee. Caught in the middle were consumers fretting about tariff tensions and watching their fast-food favourites inch higher than their desired price range.
Swijtink is now trying to deliver some relief.
She announced Tuesday that McDonald's Canada will freeze the price of a small cup of coffee at $1 for at least a year and drop the price of its McValue meals to $5 for the same duration.
The meals have cost about $6 since they were introduced in 2024. They include either a Junior Chicken, McDouble or chicken snack wrap bundled with small fries and a fountain drink. A new McValue breakfast segment includes a sausage McMuffin, breakfast burrito, bagel with cream cheese or a sausage McGriddle paired with a small coffee and a hash brown.
Swijtink said the reason for the price freeze is simple: it's what customers are looking for.
"Canadians are facing challenges and are insecure financially. What we are doing is listening and giving them what they want," she said.
Her promise comes as the public perception around fast food has been shifting in recent years. More people than ever are doing double takes every time they swipe their credit card and when it comes to dining out, they’re willing to go wherever will give them the best value.
McDonald’s has not been unscathed. Customers now routinely lament the price of star menu items like the Big Mac or limited time offers like the recent Grinch-themed meals.
The complaints have not gone unnoticed by the company's highest echelons.
“If you're that consumer, you're driving up to the restaurant and you're seeing combo meals could be priced over $10 and that absolutely is shaping value perceptions and shaping value perceptions in a negative way,” global CEO Christopher Kempczinski said on an August earnings call.
“We've got to get that fixed.”
Jo-Ann McArthur, president at Toronto advertising agency Nourish Food Marketing, predicted the Tuesday announcement will likely be the first of many ways McDonald's will be working to convince customers it's learned its lesson and is still a value-based chain.
"Canada may be the first one executing, but that to me, says the focus for 2026 for McDonald's is foot traffic, rather than ticket or profit per customer," she said.
While brands seldom commit to price freezes, McDonald's is likely willing to take the unusual step because it knows that's what it will take to win "the value war" going on among fast-food players, she said.
The company's competitors haven't gone to the same lengths, but they've long been discounting items and launching value offers.
In recent months, Tim Hortons and Wendy’s have both sold meal deals in Canada and Burger King has also marketed small combos akin to McDonald’s McValue menu in the country.
You can bet they will come up with something to counter McDonald's but where they land is anyone's guess, McArthur said.
Tim Hortons and Burger King owner Restaurant Brands International would have the large footprint and long supplier relationships often needed to create a really competitive counter-offer, "but can they compete with the scale and scope of McDonald's? Perhaps not," she said.
"And will they be willing to sacrifice? I think McDonald's is very clearly saying we will sacrifice profits and future earnings over foot traffic."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2026.
