Tim Hortons sustainability score: 28/100
Tim Hortons is a Canadian quick-service restaurant chain founded in 1964, headquartered in Oakville. It operates 6,043 restaurants globally, primarily in North America, serving coffee, donuts, and fast-food items.
More about Tim Hortons
It is owned by Restaurant Brands International, which also operates Burger King, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs.
Founded 1964Head office Oakville, CanadaStaff ~100,000Revenue ~$4BWebsite ↗
Tim Hortons hides behind parent company RBI's consolidated reporting, obscuring brand-level emissions accountability across 6,043 restaurants. Plastic waste remains a critical failure: Greenpeace named it Canada's second-largest plastic polluter, while recycling claims have been exposed as greenwashing. Water footprint is entirely unreported despite serving 5M+ daily cups.
Tim Hortons scores 28/100 (Significant gaps) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified May 2026.
That places Tim Hortons joint 731st of 934 companies scored, and joint 34th of 51 in Food Service / Restaurants.
What is Tim Hortons doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Targets & Commitments and Transparency & Accountability (5/10, 5/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Carbon Footprint: Operations (2/10, 3/10).
Where Tim Hortons lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations3/10No emissions figures for its own operations, not even an estimate from energy bills.
- Emissions from its supply chain4/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling3/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is4/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature4/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste3/10No active waste reduction, reuse or repair shown.
- Its effect on water2/10No monitoring of water use, or no measures to reduce it.
- Its climate targets5/10Its targets aren't science-based or committed to the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports5/10No dedicated sustainability role, board oversight or public report.
- Its record on controversies4/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Tim Hortons's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Tim Hortons's score based on?
12 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
50% of them were published by Tim Hortons itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Scored on 5 April 2026 under an earlier version of our method. We're re-checking it under the current method.
6 of 12 sources are independent of the company.
If you believe a source has been misread or a newer version exists, submit a challenge.
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How does Tim Hortons compare with other food service / restaurants companies?
Where Tim Hortons sits among food service / restaurants peers.
Among the 51 major food service / restaurants brands we've scored, Tim Hortons is tied =34th of 51, with 3 others.
Who scores higher in Food Service / Restaurants?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Tim Hortons.
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See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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