Tim Hortons, which is nicknamed “Singh Hortons” and has relied primarily on a temporary foreign worker program for years, announced Monday that it has decided to scale back its foreign hires and pledged to hire 10,000 local workers as the chain now expands across the country. “We have not lobbied the government since last year, and given our commitment to hiring local employees wherever possible, we will not be lobbying them on TFW issues any time soon,” said Duncan Fulton, chief corporate officer of Tim Hortons parent company Restaurant Brands.Fulton noted that there was never an issue of cheap labor because everyone was paid the same wage, but “at the end of the day, our owners almost 100 percent prefer to hire local.”The National Post quoted a spokesperson as saying: “Our restaurant owners have always been committed to local hiring. We believe one of the biggest misunderstandings about Tim Hortons is how the TFW program is used. Less than 4% of our team members are hired through the TFW program.”“Our local hiring campaign is targeting anyone who wants to work at Tim Hortons, lives in Canada and is allowed to work in Canada – our restaurant owners do not discriminate when hiring, so that could be Canadian students, international students, any member of the community,” the spokesperson said.The restaurant said its reliance on foreign labor began with labor shortages during the pandemic. “Utilization of the TFW program by owners is down 50% compared to 2024. This is different from what we saw during the pandemic in 2021, when there was a real need for foreign labor,” Fulton said. He added that there is a common misconception among Canadians that Tim Hortons employs too many foreign workers because many employees are racially diverse. “Canada’s communities are becoming more diverse, and so are our restaurants.”
