Freshslice Pizza was founded in 1999 by Ray Russell in Vancouver, British Columbia. Starting with a single restaurant, Freshslice grew to over 100 Locations across Canada.

In 2014 and 2015, Freshslice received a Golden Plate award for Best Pizza By The Slice from the Vancouver-based weekly publication The Georgia Straight.^[2][3]

In 2016, Ray Russell and Freshslice were awarded runner-up for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award through BCBusiness and Ernst & Young (EY) for his involvement at Freshslice.^[4]

In 2011, two Freshslice Pizza companies and the owner of two franchise outlets were fined $44,000 (Canadian dollars) for employing illegal workers. Companies owned by Ray Russell and corporate employee Bahman Afshari were all charged by the Canada Border Services Agency after a tip led to the discovery that over a dozen illegal immigrants were employed at Freshslice locations in Vancouver. Afshari was also personally charged.^[5]

In 2014 Russell was found guilty by the B.C Supreme Court of wrongful dismissal of a corporate employee. The courts ordered a judgement of over $40,000 (Canadian dollars) to the former employee.^[6]