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Cora Tsouflidou changed the way Quebeckers eat breakfast, and she aims to do the same for the rest of Canada.

Ms. Tsouflidou controls Franchises Cora Inc., a Montreal-based restaurant chain that has 52 franchised Chez Cora outlets in Quebec. By the end of next month, she will have five in Ontario, and hopes to add another 50 in the province within five years.

She has set her sights on the Atlantic provinces and Western Canada -- an outlet is under construction in Winnipeg -- and ultimately plans an assault on the U.S. breakfast market, perhaps with an American partner.

"That is my dream, to see Cora all over, and why not?," says the 55-year-old entrepreneur, who founded the chain, with its smiling sun logo, 15 years ago when she was a financially strapped divorced mother of three.

Despite high ambitions, she is reluctant to set specific targets in terms of total number and timing of new outlets. "I don't want to sell the skin of the bear before I kill it."

She intends to conquer the country, one crêpe and omelette at a time, but first she has to change the eating habits of non-Quebeckers. Chez Cora does not subscribe to the fast-food model, whereby customers are in and out in a whisker and often eat lunch or breakfast on the go.

The average dining time is 45 minutes in her restaurants -- which stay open from 6 a.m. to just 3 p.m. -- and the typical tab for each person is about $10.

This approach will be harder to sell outside Quebec, where, she says, "they listen more to their stomachs." Cora, she says, brought a hotel-style breakfast to the Quebec mass market, appealing to many business types who use Chez Cora for morning meetings.

The keys to her success so far have been variety of menu items and a flair for food presentation, says consultant Elizabeth Hollyer, who has worked with Chez Cora on its Ontario expansion and describes its founder as "a very, very interesting woman."

The challenge will be cultural, as Chez Cora works its way into markets where a restaurant breakfast is part of people's journey, rather than a destination, says Ms. Hollyer, vice-president of the firm FHG International.

"We have to give Ontario people a good reason to stop their cars and use a fork and knife to eat a breakfast," agrees Ms. Tsouflidou, who was in Toronto recently to give a speech to the women's mentoring organization called Step Ahead.

The higher cost of Ontario real estate is another complicating factor, but Ms. Tsouflidou says her average annual revenue per restaurant of $1-million -- and $55-million system-wide -- should allow for good margins, particularly in suburban locations.

So far, she has not introduced many new wrinkles to the Ontario menu, except for a steak and eggs dish. There was some discussion about keeping the Ontario outlets open to 10 p.m. to go up against established players such as Golden Griddle, but that was squelched when some prospective franchisees said they were attracted by Chez Cora's 3 p.m. closing. It allows time for family and social life in the evenings, a change from the usual absentee status of parents who work the restaurant industry.

A Chez Cora franchise costs $55,000, but with the outlay for building the restaurant, total investment could climb to about $550,000.

Cora charges 5 per cent royalties on sales, and its central kitchen -- known as Casseroles Cora Inc. -- sells exclusive items, such as crêpe ingredients, to the outlets. That business, run by Ms. Tsouflidou's second husband, earns more than $8-million a year in revenue.

Ms. Tsouflidou has no business training, and was at home raising a family, when her divorce forced her to find a way to put food on the table. Selling her house, she bought a snack bar in the Ville Saint-Laurent suburb of Montreal, and soon had nine restaurants. "It's so difficult when you start and when you are alone," says Ms. Tsouflidou, who had no mentor of her own.

She started franchising a decade ago, and now all her restaurants operate under that model. Maintaining consistency in operations and communications with the restaurant owners are her biggest challenges, she says.

Ms. Tsouflidou sees herself as a mentor to Quebec women.

While she now delegates many management duties, she doesn't intend to slow down. "I want to die on my job."

Daughter Gigi and sons Nicholas and Theo, all in their 30s, have been active in the company. Gigi is now at home with small children, but keeps her hand in.

Ms. Tsouflidou has designated youngest child, Nicholas, 30, as her ultimate successor. "He has courage, he is strong," she says, adding he will be "president in training for the next 15 years."

Recently, Ms. Tsouflidou took her first big holiday since founding Chez Cora -- 20 days in France with her husband. It was not all pleasure. She spent some time checking out tasty jams and Brittany's famous thin crêpes.

"I'm always looking for things that are better than what we've got." As Ms. Tsouflidou knows, there is no free breakfast.