Class action against Instacart

On July 21, 2025, our firm filed an Application for Authorization to Institute a Class Action against Maplebear Canada ULC (hereinafter “Instacart”). This action concerns tips received by delivery drivers for orders placed with Super C and Metro stores. The purpose of this application is to obtain compensation for all delivery drivers whose estimated tip on the invoice differed from the amount actually received.

Our client’s story

On March 19, 2025, our client agreed to deliver an order for a customer from a Super C store. The tip amount due to him at the end of this order was set at 10% of the order total, equivalent to $10.43.

When our client went to the store to pick up the items and make the payment, he noticed that the price of several items had changed, mainly due to their weight or availability. The total order amount was therefore increased to $168.62, bringing the tip, still calculated at 10% of the order, to $13.32.

However, our client only received $10.43, even though the customer had been charged $13.32 as a tip. Previous checks revealed that for each order placed with Metro and Super C stores, the tip charged to the customer systematically increased when the order amount was increased, while the tip paid to our customer invariably corresponded to the initial estimate.

As a result, our client did not receive the full tip that was owed to him and that the customer had paid for this order, even though he was entitled to expect full payment.

The proposed class action

The main purpose of the principles of contractual liability set out in the Civil Code of Quebec is to ensure that commitments are enforceable, to protect the rights of the injured party, and to prevent any abusive non-performance of contractual clauses.

In this regard, the service contract binding Instacart to the delivery drivers operating via its platform stipulates that Instacart undertakes to pay the remuneration due for services completed within a maximum period of thirty (30) days following their performance. Furthermore, it is settled case law that tips, whether paid directly or indirectly by a customer, are the exclusive property of the employee who provided the service and cannot be confused with the salary remuneration otherwise owed to them.

However, by retaining a portion of the tip expressly paid by the customer for the work of the delivery drivers, the amount of which increases in proportion to the final value of the order, the defendant failed in its duty to perform the contract faithfully, thereby depriving the delivery drivers of a legitimate portion of their remuneration. Consequently, the defendant is in breach of its legal obligation to perform its commitments fully, correctly, and without delay.

As a result of this practice deemed unfair on the part of Instacart, the class action lawsuit initiated by our firm aims to demonstrate that delivery drivers have suffered harm by being deprived of part of their compensation. 

We estimate that this prohibited practice has affected several hundred, if not several thousand, delivery drivers in Quebec.

Therefore, on behalf of our representative and all members of the aggrieved group, we are seeking damages to punish Instacart’s negligent, reckless, and harmful behavior.

The proposed class

This class action concerns all persons who have entered into an independent contractor agreement with the defendant in Quebec and whose estimated tip on any “Delivery Options” invoice differed from the tip actually received for orders placed at Super C and Metro stores since May 21, 2022.

Applications lodged with the Court

Application for authorization to bring a class action

Current status of the file

Awaiting authorization by a judge of the Superior Court.

How to be part of the class action

If you fall within the definition of the class covered by this class action, you are automatically part of the class action.