By David Boles, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, St. Albert Gazette
June 5, 2026
A global coffee giant’s move to hire more Canadian workers may conflict with one Alberta community’s desire to bring in temporary foreign workers.
Tim Hortons has launched a campaign to hire 10,000 new staff from local areas.
While there is no timeline for this hiring spree, the coffee chain headquartered in Toronto says in a statement it has launched a media. blitz to encourage applications to restaurants.
The company might run into issues in Athabasca.
The town about 150 kilometres north of Edmonton discussed at a council earlier this month the possibility of joining the Rural Renewal Stream program, which it had been in as recently as 2023.
Mayor Rob Balay said that companies like Tim Hortons had been asking about the programs return in the area, as it has struggled to fill positions at some of its restaurants.
In 2023, concerns about administrative time, and a surge of applications, had led Athabasca County to step away from the program at the recommendation of their interim CAO.
Meanwhile, a statement posted to Tim Hortons’ website says around 4,000 of its roughly 110,000 member staff were brought in through the Temporary Foreign Worker program.
The company has come under fire for hiring temporary foreign workers.
Among the sharpest critics of the program and Tim Hortons has been Alberta Conservative MP Michelle Rempel-Garner. She says she’s not optimistic about what’s happening.
“I read the articles and the statements that the chain made. They’re still asking for temporary foreign workers,” said Rempel-Garner during a recent scrum on Parliament Hill.
“That’s why we’re calling for the abolition of the temporary foreign worker program.”
– with files from Cole Brennan
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