Tim Hortons lobbied MPs for more temporary foreign workers over last 18 months
CBC
For more than a year, Canadian coffee giant Tim Hortons has been pushing the federal government to lift the cap on temporary foreign workers some of its franchisees can hire, CBC News has learned.
The requests occurred over at least 18 months, in writing and in lobbying meetings with officials and MPs, as Canadian views on immigration soured and Ottawa reduced various newcomer streams.
"The food service industry sector was disproportionately hard hit by the pandemic and continues to face unprecedented labour shortages," said a letter addressed to Immigration Minister Marc Miller in May 2024.
The letter was released in response to an access to information request seeking communications between either Tim Hortons, any of its franchisees or parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The document, which has its author's name and position redacted, asks to raise a 20 per cent cap on temporary foreign workers (TFWs) to 30 per cent.
Ottawa had exceptionally allowed the higher number during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
Later in 2024, the federal government reduced the cap on TFWs to 10 per cent.
Tim Hortons also had multiple lobby meetings this year, and did not stop pushing for more TFWs.
RBI and Tim Hortons representatives lobbied a number of MPs from different political parties, including the governing Liberals, as well as staff from several federal departments, at a series of meetings on Oct. 28, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada.
Miller, who now holds the culture and official languages portfolio, was one of the Liberal MPs the company met with in October.
He told CBC News it "wanted a pledge to continue the visas of those employed."
Miller said he is not unsympathetic to that request but "it's part of a larger discussion on how to manage the inflow and outflow."
It's a request another MP received as well.
That MP spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly comment on the matter.
They said RBI was looking for a "Nexus type of approval," comparing it to the joint program run by the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which allows card holders quick passage through customs and security lines at airports and land crossings.
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