Tim Hortons faces complaints from temporary foreign workers

Canada's coffee giant is in hot water for its stance on foreign workers.

The nation-wide company is having problems in Saskatchewan. Click here to read about Erik Flores, a temporary foreign worker from Mexico who says his work experience at Tim Hortons left him feeling exploited.

• Who's looking out for Tim Hortons' temporary foreign workers?

Flores' story has caught the attention of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour and isn't the only recent one focusing on Tim Hortons.

In 2008, a representativefrom Tim Hortons' licensing company, TDL Group Inc., told the federal citizenship and immigration committee that the company had more than 600 temporary foreign workers at stores across Canada, with another 400 arriving later in the year.

In an email to CBC News, Alexandra Cygal, manager of public affairs for Tim Hortons Inc., said that many of the company's restaurants wouldn't be able to operate full time or remain open without the temporary foreign worker program.

The company was founded in Hamilton in 1964 by former hockey player Tim Horton and friend, Jim Charade.Last month, four temporary foreign workers from Mexico who worked for Tim Hortons in northern B.C. filed a human rights complaint alleging their boss exploited and discriminated against them by doubling their rent and the bunks in their rooms.

Should Tim Hortons be using temporary foreign workers? Have your say: