OH Canada! ... Guess Who is Coming to Dinner

Diners with a Canadian passport, birth certificate or citizenship card will receive their buffet meal free of charge on a first-come, first-serve basis on July 1 between 12 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

The Mandarin Restaurant Franchise Corp. announced earlier this week. The company operates 29 restaurants in Ontario.

Our Story

Mandarin Restaurant 1979 was founded as a small à-la-carte restaurant in Brampton in 1979 by James Chiu, George Chiu, Diana Chiu, and K.C. Chang.

Founding partners in the original Mandarin location, 1979.

Their top priority was to ensure customer satisfaction by providing the freshest food and the best service.

This is the fifth year Mandarin has offered the free buffet linked to citizenship, wrote James Chiu, president and co-founder, in an email.

Previously, diners redeemed the freebie in 1996, 2004, 2009 and 2014.

The province's human rights code protects people from discrimination due to citizenship in five social areas, including housing, employment and services, such as at restaurants. That comes with some exceptions under the law. 

For example, only Canadian citizens can vote in municipal or provincial elections, wrote Yves Massicotte, a spokesman for the Ontario Human Rights Commission. "Defences under the Code are interpreted narrowly," he wrote. "In these circumstances, the restaurant would have to establish that its promotion is a cultural activity designed to foster and develop participation in that activity by Canadian citizens only."

Is this discrimination?

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