McDonald's representatives and some employees of the new restaurant in Prince Albert pose for a photo after cutting the ribbon to open the city's fifth location on Dec. 16, 2025. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

By Logan Lehmann

Rev up those Fryers

McDonald’s upsizing their presence in Prince Albert

Dec 16, 2025 | 4:44 PM

Another set of Golden Arches have sprung up in Prince Albert.

On Tuesday, many McDonald’s representatives gathered at P.A.’s newest establishment to celebrate the soft opening of the city’s fifth McDonald’s restaurant, featuring cake and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. A larger-scale grand opening celebration is in the works for the New Year.

Raj Bains, the owner and operator of the new McDonald’s, said the opening of the fifth restaurant is for convenience sake as there is now one at “all four corners of the city.” Operations Manager Gord Wand echoed Bains, adding it will serve as an easier pit stop for travellers passing through the city.

“It’s nice to be able to turn right to get into the restaurant as you’re heading towards the bridge, and I think that’s really going to help.”

“We’re just trying to provide options for our guests, more convenience. There is this corner of the city that is kind of underserved by McDonald’s, you’re either having to go at the top of the hill or having to go over to Cornerstone. This is just giving one more option for our guests in the community.”

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Workers making food have state-of-the-art equipment and tools at their disposal. The kitchen is set up for workers to be able to make any food at any time, with an emphasis on efficiency. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW Staff)

The new franchise is located on the corner of 17th Street West and Second Avenue West, down the street from the very popular McDonald’s at Second Avenue West and Marquis Drive. That location is the busiest McDonald’s in Saskatchewan and one of the busiest in Western Canada, another reason why a fifth location was needed in Prince Albert.

The restaurant is fitted with all of the top-of-the-line bells and whistles, including brand-new grills, fryers, drink machines, and more. One unique feature about the building is that delivery drivers have their own door to use to enter the restaurant, alleviating congestion around the front counter and the number of people in the main lobby. McDonald’s also hired over 20 high school students from around the city to work at the new restaurant.

Delivery drivers coming to the new McDonald’s will have their own entrance to the restaurant, along with their own waiting area inside. (Logan Lehmann/paNOW)

A local concern about the new McDonald’s, though, was its overall location, near an area known for not being the greatest part of town. Despite this, Bains said they’ll do their best to provide customers with an experience they expect.

“We always enforce. We have processes in place to mitigate [unruliness] and whatever we learn from our past experiences, we also implement different processes to make sure that they can be lessened. What we are doing, along with serving our community, is also mitigating certain things which might have happened in the past and how we can reduce the number of incidents. Would we be able to eliminate it? No, but our goal is to reduce it.”

However, a positive from a fifth location means more money will be raised for Ronald McDonald House charities. During the last year, over $62,000 was raised from the four existing Prince Albert restaurants alone, a number that Wand can’t wait to see grow.

“Adding one more restaurant just means we can raise more money for a great cause. We’re also opening up a Ronald McDonald House in P.A., so it’s much needed right now. Anything that can go towards the operations of that house is beneficial.”

A rendering of what the exterior of the Ronald McDonald House will look like in Prince Albert once it’s complete. Construction is expected to finish in early 2027. (File photo/paNOW)

The official opening for Prince Albert’s fifth McDonald’s is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 11 a.m.

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loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com