DONUT WAR: Tim Hortons scrambles to reclaim Canadian coffee culture with new PR campaign

Tim Hortons is feeling the heat — responding in droves with a new PR strategy to get Canadians back on its side.And to think, it all began with a "Hi Scott..."If readers are unaware of the reference, a post on X, addressed to a podcaster, Scott Fox, who was criticizing Tim Hortons' abuse of the feds' temporary foreign workers program (TFWP) in late May, received a response from the coffee shop itself, which indicated this message was a "misperception.""Hi Scott, we think one of the biggest misperceptions about Tim Hortons is how the TFW program has been used. About 3.6% of team members were hired through the TFW program," wrote good ol' Timmies.."These are positions in communities where restaurant owners faced documented labour shortages and went through the full government approval process before hiring."They then went on to introduce a new campaign to hire "10,000 new local team members" with "80 new restaurants opening this year across Canada."With this public message to Scott and new clips of employees being interviewed while touring Tim Hortons locations, one has to wonder: Is this a PR strategy? And why has Tim Hortons suddenly begun caring so much about its perception among Canadians?And most importantly — will this strategy work?.To begin by responding to the former, it could be hypothesized this is a response to an American coffee brand soon to be introduced to Canada threatening Tim Hortons with some (arguably) needed competition.This is, of course, a reference to Dunkin' Donuts announcing they are coming (back) to Canada, after almost 10 years of being absent from the country, having left back in 2018.This time, however, they claim to be coming back better than ever — with the Foodtastic restaurant operator, founder, and CEO Peter Mammas, claiming he is planning to open 600 to 700 new locations with some opening as early as late 2026 to early 2027.This announcement came earlier in May — and by the end of the month Tim Hortons was already acting out. Coincidence, methinks?.In the short span from late May to early June, Timmies has been running rampant with PR posts.In its initial May 24 announcement, it stated of its current 110,000 workers, only 4,000 were hired through the TFWP — a figure that has been declining since 2024.Though this is self-reported data, and according to BlackLock's Reporter's access-to-information records, an October 28 memo to the Deputy Minister of Industry from Tim Hortons highlighted the company's recent concerns surrounding what it called a "shrinking labour force and declining productivity" which was making it more challenging to expand.“Persistent labour shortages continue to limit the restaurant industry’s operational success,” stated the document, adding there were 63,000 unfilled positions nationwide. .Tim Hortons' lobbying leads to eased foreign labour rules for restaurants .They called on policy measures to support franchises, reporting a 4% decline in labour productivity in the sector, and calling for a permanent repeal of the GST for meals and a tax credit for kitchen supplies. As readers now know, in early March the feds expanded the TFWP to include increasing low-wage migrant labour quotas from 10% to 15% of payroll in "eligible rural regions" to "meet staffing needs" effective April.It appears Tims lobbied for this policy change, expanding the program behind closed doors — the opposite of their public claims afterwards. Even more in the Tims' announcement by hiring "locally," they mean to hire, "Canadians born here, new Canadian citizens, students, seniors, permanent residents, international students, and people with valid Canadian work permits."Still, the brand has since posted behind-the-scenes clips into Tims across the country, featuring their owners, and their local staff. .One video was filmed in Parry Sound, Ontario, showing three Canadian workers, with the owners saying what they look for in workers are people "that just love people."In the other short video, also in Ontario, owners mentioned they hire based on "attitude and effort, and the rest is all on us."It proceeds to interview workers, with one workers stating the restaurant staff was her "second family."The post also features a caption announcing they are hiring. Yet, Tim Hortons still has 86 job postings up on the feds' TFWP search engine, with the most recent posting for a "Food service Supervisor" at a Fort McMurray, AB, Tims, dated May 25, one day after the announcement they would be hiring locally..The job also offers health benefits, a pay range of $18.30 to $19.30 and states it wishes for the candidate to start "as soon as possible."In total, there were 11 jobs posted that month alone.Some postings also show positions in smaller towns across Canada posted over the past few months.It seems Tim Hortons definition of hiring "locally" is loose, and their marketing tactics are an attempt to get Canadians back on their team before Dunkin' becomes a major coffee market player..So going back to the latter question — will Canadians be persuaded by this PR campaign? As the Food Professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, who runs the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, writes on his Substack Dunkin' joining the Canadian market isn't just good news to Canadians — it's also a sign of weakness in the market.The Canadian marketplace is a much different place than when Dunkin' left.Tim Hortons used to dominate the coffee market and was considered a part of Canada's cultural identity..But now consumer loyalty has weakened — "Inflation has changed buying habits.""Consumers are increasingly critical of value, quality, consistency and service," wrote Charlebois.Not to mention, with Canada being in a recession, and Canadian youth employment rising to 13.4% in May 2026, Tim Hortons is a retail operation which would typically be hiring Canadian youth, giving them their first job opportunities.If they are not willing to help improve the economy by hiring Canadians, nor deliver high quality products for the value of a consumer's dollar — Canadians may not be persuaded by their new PR message..Carney stays silent as Canada enters recession .Like Charlebois points out, "Ironically, Dunkin’s return may say less about the strength of Dunkin’ itself and more about the reality that Tim Hortons is no longer viewed as invincible."That said, the best way to tell whether the Tim Hortons PR stunt will work and whether it will outperform Dunkin' is to wait and watch where consumers ultimately fill their coffee cups.

DONUT WAR: Tim Hortons scrambles to reclaim Canadian coffee culture with new PR campaign

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