File photo: The Canadian Press

Grocers and third-party services are seeing an influx in demand for delivery, resulting in longer-than-normal wait times as health and government authorities urge people to practice social distancing amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Instacart, a California-based company that delivers groceries in cities in 11 of Canada’s provinces and territories, says its volume order has grown more than 150 per cent over the past several weeks.

The company says it is hiring 300,000 more shoppers over the next three months to service the demand.

Metro Inc. spokeswoman Marie-Claude Bacon says online traffic to the grocers’ website has doubled, and demand for delivery and in-store pick up is higher than the company can meet.

She says customers face a long delay in having their orders fulfilled and the company is asking those capable of going to stores to shop to do so.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. and Empire Co. Ltd., which owns the Sobeys and Safeway chains, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.