VANCOUVER, Sept. 25 /CNW/ - A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. is pleased to announce it has awarded three more multi-site development agreements in Ontario. The latest agreements include a five store commitment in each of London and Kitchener/Waterloo, plus a four store commitment to develop A&W restaurants in a number of smaller towns in southern Ontario. All three of the latest agreements have been granted to existing A&W franchisees in Ontario. This follows an announcement earlier this month that the company had granted its first ever multi-site agreement, for the development of 12 new A&W restaurants in the Hamilton, Burlington and Milton region to occur over the next 5 years.

"We are proud that so many of our best franchisees in Ontario are coming forward to take advantage of multi-site agreements," said Graham Cooke, A&W's Vice President of New Restaurant Expansion. "We are currently working on several more such agreements with existing franchisees, and also hope to sign our first agreement with a new development group later this year."

A&W has introduced the multi-site development concept as a means to accelerate its new restaurant growth in Canada's largest province. The company currently operates 145 restaurants in Ontario, 69 of which are freestanding. All of the restaurants included in the multi-site program will be freestanding, with drive-thru.

"Today, we successfully operate 171 restaurants in BC, a province with less than a third of the total population of Ontario," said Cooke. "This demonstrates just how much growth potential there is for A&W in Ontario."

The company plans to launch the multi-site concept later this year in Quebec.

A&W is Canada's second largest hamburger chain. Operating coast-to-coast, A&W restaurants feature famous trade-marked menu items such as The Burger Family®, Chubby Chicken® and A&W Root Beer®.