Costco Canada dips its toes into delivery

As the grocery delivery wars heat up across the country, Costco Wholesale Canada is finally entering the battle, at least in parts of Ontario.

The warehouse club retailer announced today that it is launching Costco Grocery, the company's first online grocery site in Canada.

The service is available to Costco members in southern Ontario with online orders processed through its Costco Business Centre, which opened in Toronto last year. According to the retailer, "hundreds" of grocery items, including health and beauty items as well as vitamins and supplements, will be available through the service that offers a "two-day delivery guarantee" with no surcharge for orders exceeding $75.

"We've watched our colleagues in the U.S. enjoy succcess from their Costco Grocery launch, and are looking to repeat the same success in Canada," said Andrée Brien, Costco Canada's senior vice-president and senior general merchandise manager in a press release.

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While Costco said it does plan to expand the delivery zone across Ontario and into Quebec, there are no timelines set for launching the service in the rest of Canada. "We are starting on a smaller scale to ensure that we provide the level of service that Canadian members have come to enjoy across all of our businesses and services," added Brien.

Costco Canada currently operates 99 warehouse clubs across the country with a new warehouse set to open in Toronto on July 25.