Pizza Pizza
A Canadian franchised quick-service pizza restaurant chain best known for delivery, centralized ordering, and its repeated “11-11” telephone-number branding.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
Pizza Pizza is a Canadian franchised quick-service restaurant brand operated by Pizza Pizza Limited. It began on December 31, 1967, when Michael Overs opened the first restaurant at the corner of Wellesley and Parliament streets in Toronto. The business initially concentrated on the Toronto market, then expanded across Ontario during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Ontario remains the brand’s principal operating base, but the chain has progressively developed a national footprint through company expansion, franchising, and the use of regional operating structures. The brand’s core offer is made up of pizza, sides, desserts, and beverages, with ordering oriented toward takeaway and delivery as well as restaurant pickup. Pizza Pizza’s distinctive commercial identity has long been tied to its centralized telephone-ordering model and the memorable “11-11” ending used in its telephone numbers and advertising. The company has promoted the idea that a simple, widely recognized ordering number helped it build a consistent presence across Ontario. The number pattern has also been protected through trademark registrations, making the brand’s telephone identity an important part of its marketing assets. Pizza Pizza’s growth outside Ontario has occurred in several stages. It entered Quebec in the mid-1980s but later withdrew from the province before returning in 2007, initially through Gatineau and then through locations in the Montreal area. During the 2000s, the company also pursued expansion beyond central Canada. In 2007 it agreed to acquire Alberta-based Pizza 73, providing a regional platform for western Canadian operations. Pizza Pizza subsequently established or supported locations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, although an earlier British Columbia Lower Mainland presence was closed before the brand returned to Vancouver in 2018. The chain opened its first Halifax restaurant in 2010, entered New Brunswick in 2021, and opened its first Newfoundland location in Mount Pearl in December 2024. Western Canadian activity is substantially associated with Pizza 73, an Alberta-based subsidiary and regional brand operated within the wider Pizza Pizza business. The broader network includes conventional restaurants and more than 150 non-traditional locations, such as sites in institutional, travel, entertainment, or other specialized settings. The company has reported a network of more than 700 locations, although the exact number can change as franchise locations open, close, or change format. Pizza Pizza has also invested in digital ordering and mobile commerce. Its mobile shopping application received a Webby Award in 2011 in the Best Mobile Shopping App category, reflecting the chain’s effort to extend its established telephone-ordering convenience into digital channels. Its marketing has included sports sponsorship, including an announced expansion and promotional association with the Montreal Canadiens in connection with its return to Quebec. In December 2021, Pizza Pizza Limited announced that it was seeking opportunities to expand into Mexico. Pizza Pizza therefore combines a strongly Canadian geographic identity with a scalable franchised operating model, national delivery recognition, regional brand assets, and an ongoing emphasis on convenience and ordering technology.
History
Pizza Pizza was established in Toronto by Michael Overs, who opened the first restaurant on December 31, 1967, at the intersection of Wellesley and Parliament streets. Overs retained ownership of the chain until his death in 2010. The early business developed around pizza prepared for convenient pickup and delivery, a format that allowed the company to expand without relying exclusively on large dine-in restaurants. During the 1970s, Pizza Pizza expanded around the Toronto area. It continued its Ontario growth through the 1980s and 1990s, building a dense regional network and a recognizable consumer identity. A major part of that identity was its centralized telephone-ordering system. Rather than requiring customers to locate and call an individual restaurant, the chain promoted a common ordering approach and telephone numbers ending in “11-11.” The repeated number became closely linked to the company’s radio advertising and helped communicate simplicity and consistency across multiple locations. Pizza Pizza made an initial move into Quebec in the mid-1980s, but the company withdrew after several years. It later re-entered the province as part of a broader national expansion program. The return began in Gatineau in March 2007, followed by Montreal-area restaurants in the boroughs of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Pierrefonds-Roxboro later that year. In 2006, the company had announced plans to expand in Quebec and connected that effort with sponsorship of the Montreal Canadiens, using sports marketing to build awareness in a new regional market. The company’s expansion beyond Ontario accelerated during the 2000s. Its 2005 initial public offering filings indicated that western Canadian growth, including the possible purchase of established local chains, was under consideration. That strategy led to an agreement in June 2007 to acquire Pizza 73, an Alberta-based pizza chain. Pizza 73 became an important western operating platform, and western Canadian franchises have largely been run through that subsidiary. Pizza Pizza also added locations in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The chain’s British Columbia development was uneven. It expanded into the Lower Mainland in 2009, but those locations subsequently closed. Pizza 73 already had a location in Prince George in the province’s Interior, and Pizza Pizza later returned to Vancouver in 2018. In Atlantic Canada, the first Halifax restaurant opened in June 2010. The first New Brunswick location opened in Dieppe in late 2021, and the first Newfoundland location opened in Mount Pearl on December 30, 2024. Pizza Pizza has supplemented physical expansion with digital ordering. The company’s mobile shopping application won a 2011 Webby Award for Best Mobile Shopping App, recognizing its use of mobile technology in the ordering experience. The brand has also maintained trademark protection for elements of its telephone identity, including registrations associated with “967-1111” and related variants. Its slogan and number-based advertising have been sufficiently distinctive in Canada that Little Caesars, an unrelated American pizza chain, has used alternative slogans in the Canadian market rather than its familiar United States “Pizza! Pizza!” phrase. Pizza Pizza Limited has reported a network of more than 700 locations, including more than 150 non-traditional sites. Its restaurants are concentrated in Ontario, with additional operations across Quebec, Atlantic Canada, the Prairies, Alberta, and British Columbia. In December 2021, the company announced that it was seeking opportunities to enter Mexico, indicating that international development had become part of its longer-term strategic consideration. The brand remains principally associated with Canada and continues to operate through a franchised quick-service restaurant model.
- 2024
First Newfoundland location opens
[1]The first Newfoundland restaurant opened in Mount Pearl on December 30.
- 2021
First New Brunswick location opens
[1]The first New Brunswick restaurant opened in Dieppe.
- 2021
Mexico expansion exploration announced
[1]Pizza Pizza Limited announced that it was seeking potential expansion opportunities in Mexico.
- 2018
Return to Vancouver
[1]Pizza Pizza returned to Vancouver after its earlier Lower Mainland locations had closed.
- 2011
Webby Award for mobile shopping app
[1]The company won a Webby Award in the Best Mobile Shopping App category.
- 2010
First Halifax restaurant opens
[1]Pizza Pizza opened its first Nova Scotia location in Halifax.
- 2009
British Columbia Lower Mainland expansion
[1]The chain expanded into the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, although those locations later closed.
- 2007
Pizza 73 acquisition agreement
[1]Pizza Pizza Limited agreed to purchase Alberta-based Pizza 73, strengthening its western Canadian platform.
- 2007
Return to Quebec
[1]Pizza Pizza reopened in Quebec with a Gatineau location in March and added Montreal-area restaurants later in the year.
- 2006
Quebec expansion program announced
[1]The company announced an expansion effort in Quebec associated with sponsorship of the Montreal Canadiens.
Products and positioning
An accessible, convenience-led Canadian quick-service pizza chain focused on delivery, takeaway, franchised local availability, and broad menu choice.
Core menu · 1967
Pizza
Pizza is the brand’s central product category and the foundation of its delivery, pickup, and franchised quick-service model. The menu is designed for individual orders and group occasions, with customers able to order through restaurants, centralized telephone channels, and digital platforms.
Sides and shareables
Chicken and wings
Chicken-based menu items and wings extend the offer beyond pizza and provide shareable food for delivery and takeaway occasions. The reference material specifically identifies chicken as a trademarked brand-associated category through the “Chicken Chicken” mark.
Sides
Baked sides and bread products
Bread and other baked sides complement pizza orders and support the chain’s group-meal positioning. These products are typically sold as add-ons for pickup and delivery orders.
Complementary menu
Pasta, desserts, and beverages
The wider menu includes prepared meal alternatives such as pasta, along with desserts and soft drinks or other beverages. These categories broaden average order occasions while retaining the chain’s convenience-led delivery format.
Ordering service
Digital and mobile ordering
Pizza Pizza supports ordering through digital channels, including a mobile shopping application that received a Webby Award in 2011. Digital ordering extends the brand’s earlier centralized telephone-ordering model into mobile commerce.
Marketing campaigns
- 2006Montreal Canadiens sponsorship
Quebec
Pizza Pizza used sponsorship of the Montreal Canadiens as part of its plan to build awareness while expanding back into Quebec.
Outcome. The company returned to Quebec in 2007 with restaurants in Gatineau and the Montreal area.
- 11-11 telephone-number branding
Canada
The chain heavily promoted telephone numbers ending in “11-11,” supported by a rhyming radio advertising jingle. The number pattern became a central part of Pizza Pizza’s brand recognition and ordering proposition.
Outcome. The telephone identity remains one of the brand’s most recognizable marketing assets and is supported by trademark registrations for “967-1111” and related variants.
Brand decisions
2021
Explore Mexican expansionStrategyBackground
After building a broad Canadian network, Pizza Pizza Limited considered opportunities for growth outside Canada.
Action taken
The company announced that it was seeking to expand into Mexico.
Aftermath
The available reference material does not establish whether a Mexican restaurant network was subsequently launched.
2007
Acquire Pizza 73M&ABackground
Pizza Pizza was evaluating western Canadian growth and had identified acquisition of established local chains as one possible route to expansion.
Action taken
Pizza Pizza Limited entered an agreement to purchase Alberta-based Pizza 73.
Aftermath
Pizza 73 became the principal regional platform through which much of the group’s western Canadian franchising activity was conducted.
2007
Re-enter QuebecStrategyBackground
The company had previously entered Quebec in the mid-1980s and later withdrawn, but sought to re-establish a presence in the province during its broader national expansion.
Action taken
Pizza Pizza opened a restaurant in Gatineau in March and added Montreal-area locations later in the year.
Aftermath
The move re-established Pizza Pizza’s Quebec footprint and followed a marketing effort involving Montreal Canadiens sponsorship.
Recent events
Domino’s Pizza Group agrees to sell its Icelandic business[3]
Reported:
Domino’s Pizza Group said it agreed to sell its Icelandic business, Pizza Pizza, to PPH for 2.4 billion Icelandic krona (£13.7 million) in cash. The transaction was expected to complete before the end of May.
Sources3 sources
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