Tim Hortons commits to hiring 10,000 local employees, scaling back on

Tim Hortons is pledging to hire some 10,000 local employees, rolling back its reliance on the temporary foreign worker program.

The coffee chain says 400 hiring events have already taken place throughout March and April, and that the hiring blitz of local team members will continue throughout the year.

It’s a bit of a change for the company, which has in the past relied on the temporary foreign worker program to pull in new employees. Tim Hortons says it turned to the foreign worker program following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when the country experienced a shortage of workers.

Still, Tims says it has always been dedicated to hiring from within the communities where restaurants are located.

“Our restaurant owners have always been committed to local hiring. We think one of the biggest misperceptions about Tim Hortons is how the TFW program has been used,” said Tim Hortons communications director Michael Oliveira in an email to CBC News.

According to the company, only 4,000 Tim Hortons employees — or 3.6 per cent of workers in restaurant roles — are employed through the temporary foreign worker program, and the coffee chain says those employees are hired in communities with documented labour shortages.

In 2022, the federal government doubled the proportion of temporary foreign workers that businesses could rely on from 10 to 20 per cent of their workforce, while some sectors, including food service, were extended even further to 30 per cent. The federal government cut the number back to 10 per cent in 2024.

The company lobbied the government to maintain the program, saying it would help restaurants at a time when staff were in short supply. The government’s lobbying registry shows that as recently as 2025, Tim Hortons’ parent company Restaurant Brands International was lobbying the government on immigration policy related to the temporary foreign workers program.

Conservative and NDP politicians previously criticized the company for its use of temporary foreign labour.

WATCH | Tim Hortons looks to hire 10,000 local workers:

Local hiring blitz part of Tim Hortons $400M offensive

Tim Hortons has pledged to hire 10,000 local workers as part of a $400-million offensive that also includes new locations and the renovation of existing stores. It comes as Dunkin’ prepares to re-enter the Canadian market.

But given the recent rise in youth unemployment, the coffee chain says that lobbying is “no longer necessary,” and records from this month indicate immigration policy is no longer a topic Restaurant Brands is discussing with the government.

Youth unemployment rose to 14.3 per cent in April, according to Statistics Canada, compared to the 6.9 per cent overall unemployment rate.

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