Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Tim Hortons is firing back at more than a dozen Quebec franchisees who sued the company over their declining profitability.
The company says the restaurant owners are responsible for their business struggles and, in one case, for spending “lavishly” on investment properties and helicopters rather than investing in the operations.
The Quebec franchisees first filed their lawsuit against Tim Hortons in 2024.
They argued that their costs for supplies had risen, while the hikes to menu prices had not sufficiently offset those costs – squeezing their profit margins, eroding their restaurants’ value and harming them financially since 2019.
Some plaintiffs have been added to the lawsuit since then, and it now represents 15 franchisees operating 41 restaurants in the province.
But Tim Hortons rejects the assertion that menu prices were not raised enough to offset some of these rising costs.
The fast-food giant’s statement of defence, filed with the Quebec Superior Court last Friday, notes that restaurants increased menu prices by 21 per cent in Quebec from 2021 to 2024.
None of the claims on either side have been tested in court.
Video by The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson, Kelsey Wilson and Alex Migdal.
Tim Hortons is firing back at more than a dozen Quebec franchisees who sued the company over their declining profitability.
The company says the restaurant owners are responsible for their business struggles and, in one case, for spending “lavishly” on investment properties and helicopters rather than investing in the operations.
The Quebec franchisees first filed their lawsuit against Tim Hortons in 2024.
They argued that their costs for supplies had risen, while the hikes to menu prices had not sufficiently offset those costs – squeezing their profit margins, eroding their restaurants’ value and harming them financially since 2019.
Some plaintiffs have been added to the lawsuit since then, and it now represents 15 franchisees operating 41 restaurants in the province.
But Tim Hortons rejects the assertion that menu prices were not raised enough to offset some of these rising costs.
The fast-food giant’s statement of defence, filed with the Quebec Superior Court last Friday, notes that restaurants increased menu prices by 21 per cent in Quebec from 2021 to 2024.
None of the claims on either side have been tested in court.
Video by The Globe's Susan Krashinsky Robertson, Kelsey Wilson and Alex Migdal.
