The health and safety of the entire Instacart community is always a top priority. Instacart has made a number of health and safety updates related to COVID-19 (coronavirus) and introduced service options available on the Instacart platform.

Safely delivering your groceries and household essentials

Instacart is  working closely with national and local authorities, as well as health and safety experts, to actively monitor national health situations and to ensure safe operations with minimal disruption to service. Instacart provides recommended Health and Safety Guidelines and has shared them with the shopper community to ensure they take the appropriate precautions to safely deliver your order.

Leave at My Door Delivery option

The Leave at My Door Delivery option gives you more flexibility in choosing how you receive groceries. Simply check the box for Leave at My Door Delivery at checkout. You can leave additional instructions for your shopper and receive a photo confirmation once your groceries have been delivered.

Supporting the shopper community

Instacart introduced a number of guidelines, resources, and investments to further support the health and safety of all Instacart shoppers. These include updated health and safety guidelines, a sick pay policy for all in-store shoppers nationwide, and extended pay for any Instacart shopper affected by COVID-19.

Saying thank you to your shopper

The Instacart shopper community serves as household heroes for families nationwide. When you order, please consider tipping above and beyond to reflect the extra effort of your shopper during this busy time.

Health and safety impacts

When large-scale, national events happen, mass purchasing heavily impacts the grocery industry. To better respond, Instacart put some additional measures in place—

  • Low-stock mode for more retailers—
  • Tighter availability—
    • Some products—such as hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, rice, water, and cold medicine—may be running low. Instacart continuously updates availability to ensure you’re notified of any order changes or updates in real-time. 
  • Item purchase limit—
    • There may be item purchase limits in place for certain products. Attempting to add more than the purchase limit for these items automatically resets the selection to the maximum limit and lets you know you’ve exceeded the purchase limit.

For the latest information on precautions you can take, please visit the Government of Canada website.