KFC Canada’s food donation program is reducing food waste and feeding local communities
By Alyssa Thulmann
Food is an integral part of human life, fulfilling a biological need and providing a source of pleasure. Food is at the heart of relationships, cultures, and experiences around the world, whether it’s gathering with loved ones over the dinner table or quickly fueling the body for the day ahead.
Kentucky Fried Chicken, now known as KFC (or PFK in Quebec), began in 1930 with a roadside stand where the founder, Colonel Harland Sanders, fed hungry travelers. By 1940 he had perfected the 11-herbs-and-spices recipe that KFC is known for, and in 1952 the first franchise opened near Salt Lake City, Utah. Today the brand is an international franchise system with local owners serving the famous fried chicken across Canada. Part of this business is also about giving back to the communities that support them.
“Giving back is part of KFC Canada’s DNA,” says Carly Cohen, chief legal officer for KFC Canada, who notes that the famous Colonel himself “had a legacy of philanthropy, including in Canada where he lived for the latter part of his life.” While living in Canada, Colonel Sanders created a charity named the Colonel Harland Sanders Charitable Organization and donated to children’s hospitals in Ontario. Mississauga Hospital even named a women’s and children’s care wing after him.
In 2025, KFC Canada “scaled that commitment [to giving back] in a big way.”
Showing up for people
Food insecurity in Canada is an increasing concern. Statistics Canada reported that in 2021 12.9 per cent of Canadians were food insecure, and in 2022 that number went up to 16.9 per cent. In 2023 Statistics Canada found that approximately 10 million people living in the ten provinces reported experiencing a form of food insecurity, an increase of nearly 1.3 million people from the previous year.
Cohen shares that “while KFC restaurants have been donating surplus food locally since 2016, the brand officially re-launched its food donation efforts at a national level in 2025, alongside a new partnership with Second Harvest, Canada’s largest food rescue organization.”
Through Second Harvest’s app, restaurants can schedule or request on-demand pickup of surplus food for drivers to then deliver to local charities as donations. Since its start in 1985, Second Harvest has been working actively to not only reduce food waste, but to ensure it ends up on local plates. KFC restaurants Canada-wide can now participate in this initiative and provide protein-rich chicken products to community organizations in need.
“This partnership allows KFC to do what it does best: deliver protein at scale to a diverse and dispersed Canadian community,” says Cohen. “Protein is one of the hardest items for food charities to source. KFC’s footprint across Canada gives it a meaningful ability to make a difference and to get its Finger Lickin’ Good chicken out.”
In 2025 alone, KFC Canada and its franchisees supported more than 500 local charities and nonprofits, “helping ensure good food reaches people who need it most—while keeping it out of landfills,” Cohen says. In that same year they provided Canadians with 468,910 meals, rescued 151,327 pounds of chicken, saved 482 million litres of water, and averted almost 3 million pounds of greenhouse gases.
The brand’s charitable initiatives and fundraising programs are “rooted in generosity and showing up for people when it matters most,” says Cohen; they’re a modern extension of the principles fostered by KFC’s founder. “Colonel Harland Sanders wasn’t just a brand icon, he was a real person who lived in Mississauga and believed deeply in giving back. His personal philanthropy and commitment to community continue to inspire KFC Canada’s approach today.”
KFC in Canada
Though KFC’s story began in the U.S. state of Kentucky, the brand expanded into Canada more than 70 years ago. In fact, Colonel Sanders himself moved to Mississauga, Ontario in 1965 to support his Canadian franchisees. He continued to live in his Mississauga home for the rest of his life, continuously supporting the community with philanthropic work.
“While addressing food insecurity remains the brand’s primary national focus, franchisees also support a wide range of local causes reflecting the unique needs of their communities while staying connected to the broader national mission,” Cohen says.
In Canada today there are more than 650 KFC franchises dishing out 100 per cent Canadian farm-raised chicken and fries made from Canadian potatoes. Furthermore, each of these franchises are owned and operated by Canadian franchisees serving and creating jobs for people in their local areas.
The franchisee network has been especially energized by the national reach of the food donation program. The brand has even seen increased participation from Quebec and remote Canadian communities that have been more challenging to support in the past. “KFC franchisees have always been deeply passionate about serving the communities they operate in, so their response has been strong and enthusiastic. Many were already finding ways to give back locally, and the national re-launch has given them a program that finally matches that ambition in both scale and impact,” explains Cohen.
2025 also introduced KFC’s first national fundraising campaign, giving customers the opportunity to donate at each point of the payment process in restaurants, at kiosks, and online through the website or app. As of 2026 this initiative is still live, so customers can easily donate directly to these causes themselves.
“The focus is on making the impact visible, tangible, and easy to understand for our customers,” says Cohen. Through national storytelling moments, press outreach around impact milestones, and brand-owned channels, KFC is letting their customers know that supporting the brand means supporting food insecure Canadians.
Local, national, global
“As part of the global Yum! Brands family, made up of KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, KFC Canada is connected to a broad network of initiatives designed to feed people, build skills, and create opportunities worldwide,” Cohen says.
The parent company, Yum!, also invests in education, entrepreneurship, and community development through their Unlocking Opportunities initiative. This initiative works to reduce barriers and promote professional opportunities within the company itself and the markets they serve. An example of this is in KFC UK’s involvement with Hatch, an employment skills program in support of young people experiencing barriers to employment, a rising issue prevalent in those communities.
Additionally, shares Cohen, “KFC has historically contributed to international hunger relief efforts, including partnerships with the World Food Programme.” She explains that KFC’s work in combination with the other Yum! brands efforts “reflect a global commitment to ‘Feeding People’s Potential,’ ensuring that communities not only have access to food but also the tools to thrive.”
“All of this ladders back to KFC Canada’s strategic vision, ‘Done the Right Way,’ ensuring that as the brand grows, its community impact grows with it,” says Cohen. “Done the Right Way means more than the chicken we serve, it’s about how we show up for our guests and our communities. Our food donation program is a reflection of that commitment. By helping provide high-quality, Canadian raised protein to Canadians who need it most, we’re making sure we’re not just serving iconic, Finger Lickin’ Good meals, but doing right by the communities that support us every day.”
Learn more about franchising with Kentucky Fried Chicken Canada Company (KFC Canada)
