Instacart's hiring spree continues

With consumer demand for online grocery shopping at an all-time high, Instacart has announced it's adding 250,000 full-service shoppers in key markets including Toronto to cater to COVID-19 demand.

Canadians who have opted to stay home during the pandemic and order their groceries online, have been faced with weeks-long delivery turnaround. Instacart said its intention in adding full-service shoppers is to return to one-hour and same-day delivery.

READ: Grocery industry continues to grapple with COVID-19 delivery demand

“Overnight, we’ve become a necessity for millions of people and our teams are working tirelessly to launch new products that speed up our service and open up more delivery windows for customers," said Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta in a press release.

Instacart is also introducing additional safety measures for its shoppers, including easier access to health and safety kits, new in-app wellness checks as well as the expansion of its COVID-19 extended pay policies for shoppers and bonuses for in-store teams.

"We’re focused on continuing to provide safe and flexible earnings opportunities for shoppers, while also making it possible for more families than ever before to access grocery delivery,” said Mehta.

Instacart already hired 300,000 workers across the U.S. and Canada in recent weeks--more than doubling its workforce--to fulfill orders that at one point had surged by 500% year over year, it said.