Tim Hortons has rolled out a Canada-wide recruitment campaign to hire 10,000 local workers for its restaurants this summer.

The initiative will support local restaurant owners at existing outlets and 80 new locations opening across the country this year.

The company said that anyone who is entitled to work in Canada is welcome to work at its restaurants.

It said this includes “Canadian students, international students, people with disabilities, mature workers, Indigenous people, new Canadians and members of the local community of all ages”.

After Canada emerged from Covid-19 in 2021, the coffeehouse and restaurant chain turned to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to address labour shortages.

Commenting on the TFWP policy, the company said: “Tim Hortons was one of the companies encouraging the government to do so at the time to help restaurants facing staffing challenges and lobbied them to maintain greater access when they announced plans to limit applications.

“However, today in 2026, with high youth unemployment nationally, lobbying for expanded access is no longer necessary. In fact, our restaurant owners’ use of the programme has already declined steadily since 2024.”

Tim Hortons said it currently employs about 110,000 team members across its system. Of these, about 4,000 team members hold positions under the TFWP, representing about 3.6% of all restaurant roles.

The company added that these roles are in communities where restaurant owners faced documented labour shortages and underwent a full government approval process before hiring.

Tim Hortons has around 4,000 restaurants across Canada.

In March, the company recalled thousands of colour‑changing ceramic mugs sold to Canadian customers over safety concerns.

Health Canada cautioned that the mug could crack or break when filled with hot liquids, posing a burn risk to users.