Is Tim Hortons Canadian? | CBC News

It is Canadian like hockey, maple leaf and Canadian geese.

Or is it?

In the past, Tim Hortons has rightly earned his place as a Canadian icon, starting from a cafeteria in Ontario and finally to build an empire that made the timbits and double the double of the national lexicon.

But after the company was purchased by the US Hamburger chain Wendy, and later became part of a holding company supported by a Brazilian investment company, has renounced its claim of Canadian identity?

The topic was much discussed online – and probably in the cafés of the whole nation – in the wake of the patriotic fervor mounted by the tariff threats and annexation of the President of the United States Donald Trump.

A recent post on the company’s social media declares that it is “proud Canadian”, but many of the 2,500 comments below contest the declaration, insisting on the fact that it is not Canadian, but rather American or Brazilian. The posts on the topic in the “Buy Canadian” groups on social media sites have turned into the same debate.

So where does the truth lie? What makes a Canadian company? Is it the property? The supply chain? The franchising locations? Employees? The headquarters? Or is it something more intangible: a reflection of our values, history or traditions?

Origin and properties

First of all, let’s take a look at the difficult facts.

Tim Hortons was founded in 1964 by the longtime player Toronto Mapple Leafs Tim Horton, and was later detected by Ron Joyce, born from New Scotland after Horton’s death in 1974.

In 1995, the company was purchased by the American hamburger chain Wendy, but the two companies separated in 2006.

In 2014, Tim Hortons became part of Restaurant Brands International. This is where the idea of ​​being Brazilian of Tim comes. The largest shareholder of Restaurant Brands International was the Brazilian 3G Capital investment company.

In 2014, at the time of the merger, the 3G held 47 % of the voting power in the brands of international restaurants, but this has slowly decreased to 26 % in December 31, 2024 over time.

Watch | Who really owns Tim Hortons?

Once he rightly earned Tim Hortons his place as a Canadian icon. But after the company was purchased by the US Hamburger chain Wendy, and later became part of a holding company supported by a Brazilian investment company, has renounced its claim of Canadian identity? Reports Frances Willick of the CBC.

Today, Canadian banks such as Toronto Domino, Bank of Montreal, National Bank and Royal Bank, as well as Canadian institutional investors such as the CPP Investment Board, cumulatively hold a 3G comparable participation, according to Michael Oliveira, director of communications for Tim Hortons.

“We understand how this” Brazilian property “narration has evolved over time, but it is simply not accurate,” he said in an e-mail.

Restaurant Brands International financial documents show that US capital investors have the next largest percentage of voting power, at about 9.5 percent, and Pershing Square funds based in the United States have about 6.5 percent.

Identity goes beyond the property

Florian Muenkel, assistant professor of Finance at the Sobey School of Business of the Saint Mary of the University of Halifax, says that where the shareholders are found does not have a great impact on the perception of the nationality of a company.

He says that consumers probably associate the brands Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati and Peugeot with some countries, but are all part of Stellantide, a multinational based in the Netherlands.

“I think that up to a certain point we are anthropomorphizing a company here,” says Muenkel. “A company is not a human being for which you can practically assign something like a citizenship.”

Of the 6,043 Tim Hortons stores all over the world, 64 % are in Canada. More than 100,000 people are employed in Canadian stores, owned by 1,500 franchisees. Another 400 people work for the company office, which is based in Toronto.

Restaurant Brands International Trade actions to the Toronto Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange and the company is regulated pursuant to Canada Business Corporations Act.

In terms of the supply chain, Tim Hortons roasted most of the coffee for his restaurants and merges the beans for his coffee to take home in two roasting structures: his flagship roasting in Ancaster, Ontario and another in Rochester, New York

The company has five distribution centers in Canada and uses third -party partners for four others in the country and manages a production plant in Oakville, Ontario, which produces dark fans, iceboards and filling.

Muenkel says that someone who decides if a company is Canadian could consider where his sales come from, from where he produces his goods, where he takes people and, to a certain extent, which he owns it.

So, in your opinion, is Tim Hortons Canadian? Hesitates, reluctant. So: “As an economist, I would say yes.”

‘Canadian in the Spirit’

Douglas Hunter is the author of a book on Tim Hortons called Double Double: Like Tim Hortons it has become a Canadian lifestyle, one cup at a time. He also wrote a book on Tim Horton, the man who started everything.

Hunter says that in the previous days of the company, his pure ubiquity was what made him popular among the Canadians.

“You want a coffee … focus your car along one of the main roads and hit a TIM.”

And at that moment there wasn’t much competition. Hunter says that for people who wanted to manage any type of franchise of restaurants, coffee and baked goods they were along the desirable list – under the hamburgers, ice cream and pancakes.

“It was the only show in the city … Ron Joyce with Horton understood that he had a very strong niche in which no one else was in which no one else was found.”

Restaurants have also become a collection point in communities. If you had to meet a stranger or sign the divorce cards, a cafeteria was the place to do it, says Hunter.

Despite the multinational status of the company today, Hunter states that the fact that the franchises are managed by local people who know their customers and the market “better than the bean counters in the headquarters” oscillates its opinion in favor of the identity of Tim Hortons like Canadian.

“I think it is Canadian in the spirit,” he says. “Someone in Sao Paulo is not sitting at a computer desk that decides, you know, how many Cruller we will order.”

‘A place of community’

The person who, in fact, is deciding how many cruates they order – at least in the case of his Tim Hortons franchises – is Tanya Doucette and his staff.

Doucette lives in Lake Sylvan, in high., And has eight Tim Hortons locations in Central Alberta.

He says he hears the debates on the fact that Tim Hortons is Canadian and understands why the Canadians want clarity in this moment of change and upheaval.

But in his mind, there is no doubt: “Tim Hortons is Canadian”.

In addition to the questions of shareholders and supply chains, Doucette says that it is the role that Tim Hortons plays in the life of ordinary people who earn his Canadian status.

Rits on the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, when customers were not admitted within the restaurants.

“Our guests would have brought garden chairs and sat, even if it was winter … and even if Alberta can remain rather cold until May until May, our guests were gathering out. They were keeping the spacing necessary, but they gathered out because they needed that place to meet. And this is a community place for them.”

The restaurant is so an integral part of the life of some daily customers who inform the staff if they go on vacation and tell them not to worry if they are not around.

Doucette says that when the communities celebrate something or face the tragedy, “are we one of the first calls: can you bring coffee? Can you provide Timbit or hot chocolate?” He says.

“They are bonspiels, they are the guidelines of the middle school, they are law-nuns, they are all the ways in which we try to support our communities.”

Oliveira, director of Tim Hortons’ communications, said that the company is deeply incorporated into Canadian communities.

Tim Hortons charity programs collected $ 44.1 million in 2024 to support local causes through campaigns such as Smile Cookie, Camp Day, Orange Sprinkle Donuts and Special Olympics Donuts. It also manages seven fields for young people from low -income houses and supports programs such as Timbits Soccer and Hockey.

“We don’t only serve the Canadians – we return in great style,” says Oliveira.