McDonald's Canada founder dies at age 86: 'The world lost a remarkable man'

George Cohon, the founder and senior chairman of McDonald's Canada, died at age 86 on Friday night.

The American-born businessman's son, Mark Cohon, took to X — formerly known as Twitter — on Saturday, sharing a tribute post to his late father.

"Last night we said farewell to my dad. Our family, Canada and the world lost a remarkable man," Cohon's son wrote.

Cohon was born on April 19, 1937 in Chicago, eventually receiving a degree from Drake University and graduating from the Northwestern University School of Law in 1961. Six years later, he moved to Toronto as a McDonald's licensee for eastern Canada, alongside his wife and their two sons, according to the Canadian Business Hall of Fame. He opened his first McDonald's location in London, Ont. in November 1968.

Helping drive the rapid expansion of McDonalds' operations in Canada, Cohon became chairman, president and chief executive officer of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada Ltd. in 1971. He held those titles until July 1992.

Cohon was also instrumental in bringing McDonald's to what was then the Soviet Union, where he started the arduous process in 1976 when he was already presiding over more than 200 locations. It wasn't until 1990 where he opened the first McDonald's in Moscow.

Cohon was also the founder of Ronald McDonald House Charities, which provides accommodations for families whose children are receiving medical treatment, in Canada and in Russia.

In 1988, he made a Member of the Order of Canada. A decade later, he was awarded the Order of Friendship by the Russian government.

He was given the Order of Ontario in 2000, and was given a key to city of Toronto in 2012. Most recently, he received the Companion of the Order of Canada earlier this year.

On X, many users — including Canadian politicians and business figures — paid their respects to Cohon.