CALGARY — Tim Hortons is distancing itself from staffing practices at an insolvent Ontario franchise operator whose temporary foreign workers accounted for more than four out of five employees at one restaurant.As reported by Blacklock’s Reporter, the chain’s corporate management said staffing figures disclosed in court filings by MGB Ventures Inc. do not represent hiring practices across most Canadian Tim Hortons locations.“The staffing figures at these restaurants in question do not reflect the hiring reality across the vast majority of Tim Hortons in Canada,” management said in a statement.“It is extremely rare to see this type of situation and it does not at all reflect the financial viability of the restaurants in question.”The company did not elaborate.MGB Ventures, based in Alexandria, Ontario, operated six restaurants in eastern Ontario. In an Ontario Superior Court filing under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, the operator attributed part of its financial trouble to federal restrictions on temporary foreign worker hiring.The company employed 41 temporary foreign workers among its 156 employees. Those workers represented 83% of staff at its Alexandria restaurant and 60% at another location in Dunvegan.The operator said changes to the federal program disrupted its housing arrangements and put pressure on its finances.“Recent restrictions in Temporary Foreign Worker programs caused inefficiencies in the company’s housing subsidy program which had an adverse effect on its cash flow,” it wrote in an affidavit..WATCH: Rodent caught crawling beneath doughnuts at a Toronto Tim Hortons.MGB said recruiting workers was difficult in the smaller communities where its restaurants operated, prompting it to use the federal program to fill positions.The company also said it was required to subsidize housing for its temporary foreign workers. Its affidavit noted employers participating in the program may have to provide assistance such as housing support and language training, particularly in smaller or remote communities.The filing sets out the operator’s explanation for its financial difficulties; the staffing figures alone do not establish that federal restrictions caused its insolvency.Other restaurant franchisees have also warned Ottawa that restrictions on foreign hiring threaten their operations.In a 2025 petition to the House of Commons human resources committee, A&W operators in Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau, Quebec, said they faced possible closures or reduced hours without access to temporary foreign workers.The franchisees argued local workers were pursuing more stable, higher-paying employment and students could not cover essential shifts.“Without them, many services will close or drastically reduce their operating hours,” the operators wrote.They said businesses outside major cities faced particular difficulties because their communities lacked both a sufficient local workforce and population growth to fill vacancies.Ottawa introduced tighter restrictions on temporary foreign worker hiring in 2024, arguing employers needed to reduce their dependence on labour from abroad.“We know it’s time to ease our reliance on foreign workers,” then-employment minister Randy Boissonnault said at the time.“The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a last resort. We expect businesses to exhaust every option and work to prioritize workers in Canada before applying for temporary foreign workers.”
