December 3,2025
RED FM News Desk
For more than a year, Tim Hortons has been pressuring the federal government to ease limits on the number of temporary foreign workers its franchisees can hire, CBC News has learned.
Over at least an 18-month period, the company made written requests and held lobbying meetings with officials and MPs—even as public attitudes toward immigration grew more negative and Ottawa tightened several immigration programs.
“The food service industry was disproportionately affected by the pandemic and continues to struggle with severe labour shortages,” said a May 2024 letter to Immigration Minister Marc Miller. Released through an access-to-information request, the letter—its author’s name redacted—asked the federal government to raise the cap on temporary foreign workers (TFWs) from 20 per cent to 30 per cent. Ottawa had temporarily allowed the higher threshold during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
However, later in 2024, the federal government lowered the cap to 10 per cent. Despite this, Tim Hortons continued to lobby for more TFWs, holding several meetings with MPs throughout the year. Miller, who now serves as minister of culture and official languages, was among those who met with the company in October.
He told CBC News the company wanted assurances that existing workers could continue to receive visas. Miller said he understood the concern but emphasized that the issue is part of a broader debate about how Canada manages immigration flows.
Another MP reported receiving a similar request, saying RBI sought a kind of “Nexus-style approval”—a reference to the trusted-traveller program run jointly by CBSA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection that speeds up border crossings for card holders.
Tim Hortons spokesperson Michael Oliveira said the company is seeking “flexibility in hiring TFWs,” especially in small towns and rural areas. He added that Tim Hortons is working with Restaurants Canada and the broader sector to address 70,000 job vacancies nationwide, including through training and development programs.
Oliveira also said the company has seen “a troubling rise in unacceptable hateful behaviour, both online and in our restaurants,” noting that more than 95 per cent of Tim Hortons employees are hired locally. “Some individuals are making assumptions about ‘who looks Canadian,’ and anyone who doesn’t meet their expectations becomes a target for harassment,” he said.
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