This is the research the pitch is built on, written for you and about Tim Hortons. It would never be shared with them. The pitch is the only part Tim Hortons would see.
Tim Hortons puts more than 350,000 Canadian kids a year into Timbits Soccer and Timbits Hockey, and since January 2026 it has Team Canada too. Every one of those Timbits teams depends on a parent who agreed to coach. Tims has never said a word about them. CAC already trains many of them. This report shows how to put that on the record, and how to make it count in visits, not just goodwill.
Timbits (kids), Hockey Canada U7, the NHL, and from January 2026 the COC and CPC. Its community money goes to camps, cause donuts and jerseys. No coach development, recognition or safe-sport program appears anywhere in the ledger.
HIGH VERIFY: absenceHockey Canada requires every Timbits U7 head coach to complete NCCP Coach 1, Intro to Coach. Tims has also funded Special Olympics Active Start and FUNdamentals since 2016, whose leaders train on NCCP modules. Tims pays for coach education already. It just never says so.
HIGHA Timbits-sponsored program in Calgary told 2026 families that teams will be cancelled if coaches are not found, and that coaching clinics are optional. Kitchener and New Brunswick clubs ran similar appeals.
MEDIUM: local evidenceCanada same-store sales: +0.1% in Q2 2026, +1.8% in Q3. RBI's CEO said the Q2 marketing calendar didn't deliver. Tims Rewards has almost 8M members and linked to Triangle Rewards in September. A CAC deal has to move a loyalty number.
HIGHTims already owns the kid's first team and, now, the national team. What it doesn't own is the adult who makes the first team possible. That parent is a family customer, a likely Tims Rewards member and a morning-coffee regular. CAC can reach them at the moment they sign up to coach: a new Locker account, a first eLearning module. Tims can't reach that moment today. The pitch stays grassroots. Tims already holds Team Canada, and CAC can't grant it anyway.
A multi-year program that trains, recruits, thanks and rewards the volunteer parents who coach Timbits teams, in every Timbits sport. Built only from inventory CAC owns. It sits beside the sport-specific courses Hockey Canada and soccer clubs already run, and replaces none of them.
Tims underwrites free access to CAC's multisport starter modules (Safe Sport Training, Rule of Two, a first coaching course) for any Timbits volunteer, in any sport. CAC has done this before: Decathlon underwrote a free NCCP module in 2020 and 2022.
A National Coaches Week campaign aimed at Timbits parents, run through CAC's Become a Coach funnel and the paid digital and creator work already in its 2026–27 plan.
A new category in the National Coaching Leadership Awards, which has no community-coach award today. Restaurant owners nominate the coaches of the teams they sponsor. Owners stay the hero, with the coach beside them.
A coach who completes Coach Ready gets a Tims Rewards offer at their local restaurant. Every redemption is a visit Tims can count. Offer and mechanics for Tims to set.
Timbits-sponsored clubs invited into the Responsible Coaching Movement (Rule of Two, screening, ethics training). 1,930 clubs have already pledged.
No Team Canada or Olympic language, no apparel or coach kit, no nutrition or activity claims next to a donut, and no messaging aimed at the kids. Every placement is coach-facing, so the audience is adults.
Owned by Restaurant Brands International (CEO Josh Kobza). Tim Hortons President Axel Schwan; CMO Hope Bagozzi since 2020. About 110,000 staff, roughly 45% aged 15 to 24. A franchise system where restaurant owners fund much of the local community spend, Timbits included.
Canada comps fell from +3.6% (Q2 2025) to +0.1% (Q2 2026) before recovering to +1.8%. Kobza said the Q2 marketing calendar did not produce what management expected, and priorities changed mid-quarter. MEDIUM: paraphrase
RBI says Tim Hortons will host a convention in Q4 2026. The 2027 plan is likely being set now. VERIFY: inference
Canadian rituals: the morning coffee, the Tims run, opening a pack of hockey cards. Sport is how the brand shows up, not one of its growth levers. It is "Always Yours" since May 2025.
"Proudly Canadian" drew a backlash over ownership in 2025. Let Tims make its own Canadian claim. CAC brings the proof: 2.65M coach accounts and a national coaching system more than 50 years old.
"Tims restaurant owners" appear in nearly every community and sport release as the local heroes. Coaches never appear. The pitch puts the coach next to the owner, not in place of them.
In October 2022 Tims pulled out of Hockey Canada's men's programming, kept women's, para and youth hockey, and came back in December 2023. It will act on conduct. CAC's Responsible Coaching Movement is the positive version of that value. Pitch it as trust, never by recalling the scandal. HIGH
Warm, ritual-driven, a little self-deprecating, never preachy. Short sentences about feelings. These phrases come from 2025 and 2026 releases and executive quotes.
Use plain words: "first coaching course," "safe sport training." Frame Timbits as the first team a Canadian kid plays on, and the volunteer as their first coach. Confidence and readiness, not deficit and risk.
| Property | Type | Years | Status | Conf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timbits Soccer | Owned program, ages 3 to 7; 250,000+ kids a season; adidas jersey partner | 1993– | Active | HIGH |
| Timbits Hockey (Hockey Canada U7) | Initiation program title; ~100,000 kids a year | 2018– | Active; 2026 terms not seen | HIGH VERIFY terms |
| Hockey Canada national teams | Premier partner | 2019– | Paused men's programming Oct 2022, back Dec 2023 | HIGH |
| NHL (Canada) and Heritage Classic | Official coffee; title of Heritage Classic (7th time, Oct 2026) | 2010– | Extended Dec 2025 | HIGH |
| NHL hockey cards | Annual collectible | Annual | 2026–27 set launched Sept 28, 2026 | HIGH |
| Canadian Olympic Committee | National Partner, Official Coffee and QSR of Team Canada | 8 years from Jan 2026 | Active | HIGH |
| Canadian Paralympic Committee | Official Supporter | 3 years from 2026 | Active | HIGH |
| Special Olympics Canada | Lead sponsor, Active Start and FUNdamentals; Special Olympics Donut | 2016– | Active | HIGH |
| Tim Hortons Foundation Camps | Charity; Camp Day raised $12.7M in July 2026 | 1974– | Active | HIGH |
| adidas | Timbits Soccer jerseys; Tims Run Club | 2022 / 2026– | Active | HIGH |
| Coach development or recognition | — | — | None found | VERIFY |
Tims has never published a coach number. Soccer: 250,000 kids at 8 to 10 a team is 25,000 to 31,000 teams, at one or two coaches each, so 25,000 to 60,000. Hockey: 100,000 kids at 12 to 15 a team is 7,000 to 8,000 teams, at two to four coaches, so 13,000 to 33,000. Total roughly 40,000 to 90,000 adults a season. Ask Tims, Hockey Canada and Canada Soccer for the real figure.
The Timbits coach sits where three of Tims' target audiences meet: families with young kids, loyalty households, and the morning-coffee regular. CAC reaches them at sign-up, which Tims can't do today. VERIFY: inference
Hockey requires NCCP Coach 1 and Respect in Sport. Soccer varies by club: at least one Calgary Timbits program makes clinics optional. An Ontario coaching report found about half of coaches lack NCCP training. MEDIUM Figures conflict between sources (51% untrained vs 42% with some training), so the pitch doesn't use them.
CAC is fully bilingual, but only about 6% of new NCCP coaches choose French or bilingual. Pitch CAC's bilingual delivery, not the size of a French audience. HIGH
| CAC asset | Tim Hortons need it meets | Activation (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| Multisport eLearning (Safe Sport Training 75,285 completions; Rule of Two 27,144) | A coach layer for every Timbits sport, not only hockey | Free Coach Ready access for Timbits volunteers, underwritten by Tims |
| The Locker (2.65M accounts; rebuild planned 2026–27) | Reach the coach at sign-up | Coach Ready path and Tims Rewards offer designed into the rebuild |
| National Coaches Week (Sept; 5,729 new Locker accounts in 2025) | A September moment before hockey cards (Sept 28) and National Coffee Day (Sept 29) | "Thank your Timbits coach" week, with recruitment for the fall season |
| National Coaching Leadership Awards (65 recipients, Nov 2025) | A story where the owner and the coach share credit | Timbits Community Coach Award, nominated by restaurant owners |
| Responsible Coaching Movement (2,421 orgs; 1,930 clubs) | Kids' sport parents can trust | Invite Timbits-sponsored clubs to pledge |
| Inside Coaching newsletter (327,549) | Adult, coach-facing reach | Coach Ready and award stories, presented by Tim Hortons |
| Become a Coach funnel (12,766 clicks in one Feb 2026 campaign) | No coach, no team | Recruitment campaign aimed at Timbits parents |
Not first: President Axel Schwan, an operator and franchise voice. Copy him once marketing is engaged. Warm paths: Special Olympics Canada (Tims' longest coach-adjacent partner); Hockey Canada (clear the Timbits coach message with them first); a courtesy word to the COC's commercial team so CAC is never seen to go around its partner; Derek Kent, ex-RBI brand communications and ex-COC CMO, knows both sides.
Before any research on Tim Hortons, every CAC partner was checked for a category clash. None sells food, coffee or restaurants. Two items need CAC to confirm before anything is sent.
| CAC partner | Finding | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Petro-Canada (National Partner) | Coaching Excellence Awards and FACE. Renewed May 2025; public releases show no food or QSR exclusivity, but the contract hasn't been seen. Tims' forecourt ally has been Esso, a fuel rival; Tims Rewards is now linked with Triangle Rewards, whose Gas+ sites became Petro-Canada in 2023 | TO CONFIRM VERIFY |
| Nike, Dove (Body Confident Sport) | Nike is a CAC Program Partner; adidas is Tims' kids-sport apparel partner. Package carries no apparel or coach kit | TO CONFIRM Nike category |
| MONDO | EDI Grant; flooring and sport surfaces | CLEAR |
| Laureus Sport for Good | Program Partner, scope not described | CLEAR |
| Kids Help Phone | Non-commercial program partner | CLEAR |
| Globe Awards and Promotions | Corporate Supporter, recognition items | CLEAR |
| Tim Hortons | No current or past direct deal with CAC found | CLEAR MEDIUM |
Four research streams: CAC inventory and partner screen (from CAC's 2025–26 Annual Report, 2026–27 Annual Plan and partner pages); Tim Hortons brand, strategy and voice; its sponsorship and community ledger; and its decision-makers. 69 distinct sources, each claim dated and rated HIGH, MEDIUM or VERIFY. Primary sources first: CAC documents, the Tim Hortons newsroom, RBI's SEC filings, COC and CPC releases.
Produced by an AI research-and-build pipeline and checked by Victor Cui. The key quotes on the pitch were re-checked against their live pages on 4 November 2026.