No, Filipino Chicken Chain Jollibee Isn’t Coming to Brossard (For Now)

Montrealers shouldn’t be expecting a location of popular Filipino fried chicken chain Jollibee to open in the near future, despite social media posts stating that the company would be coming to Quebec.

A widely-shared Facebook post from South Shore community news page Rive-Sud — Le Média Citoyen announced last Wednesday that Jollibee would be opening in Brossard.

However, a representative for the company has confirmed to Eater Montreal that the company is not looking at opening locations in the Montreal area at present.

The Facebook announcement cited business news outlet Bloomberg and “citizen media” (presumably, tips from its followers) in announcing the news. While Bloomberg has covered Jollibee’s expansion into Canada, there is no trace online of the company ever stating that Jollibee would be opening in Brossard.

The chain is popular in the Philippines for fried chicken and burgers (among other items), and has been on an expansion binge outside of its homeland of late. It just opened in New York, and the first Toronto location, which opened earlier this year, has drawn interminable lines for months.

100 new Canadian locations are planned over the coming years, but Jollibee representative Francesca Lee tells Eater that the company is looking primarily at Ontario (particularly Toronto), with locations in Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver a possibility.

Of course, it does seem strange to plan 100 new locations while leaving out a population centre like Montreal, but it’s worth noting that this number seems to be just a goal at this stage. The chain has just three restaurants in the country — two in Winnipeg, one in Toronto — with no new locations confirmed yet. Most likely, only a fraction of those 100 stores are in the planning stage, so it’s possible Jollibee might revisit the idea of opening in Quebec in future, but probably not anytime soon.

It’s unclear why the Jollibee expansion news surfaced online last week — the company’s Canadian expansion was announced in June. Despite that, a smattering of articles effectively re-announcing that news did the rounds last week, without breaking any more news. (MTL Blog was one place to do it, although that infamously incorrect site did not announce a Montreal location.)

• Filipino fast food chain Jollibee to open 100 Canadian stores in next five years [CTV]
• Why People Are Still Waiting in Line for Jollibee in Toronto [BlogTO]
• Filipino Fast Food Favorite Jollibee Finally Opens First Manhattan Location This Month [ENY]