Two articles claiming that iconic coffee chain Tim Hortons will close all Canada franchises on 3/30/20 because of the novel coronavirus were shared more than 150,000 times on Facebook.
However, the articles are false., “The information in the Canada-Eh article is completely false,” Mary Lowe, a spokeswoman for the corporation, told AFP by email., “Tim Hortons continues to welcome guests for take-out purchases, drive-thru orders and where available delivery,” Lowe added., Tim Hortons claims 80 percent of Canadians visit a location at least once a month, and the Canadian founded, US-owned corporation is Canada’s largest restaurant chain -- known for its connection to Canadian national identity., The two websites that published the article have visually similar layouts and sometimes coordinate content publication with two others, Toronto-Ontario.news and Canada 1867. AFP Fact Check has found all four websites have published false news several times in the past., Throughout Canada, smaller food and dining establishments have been negatively impacted by social distancing measures taken by local and provincial governments, with most restaurants open for take-out only., AFP Fact Check has investigated more than 190 false and misleading claims about the novel coronavirus., , Copyright © AFP 2017-2020.  All rights reserved.  Users can access and consult this website and use the share features available for personal, private, and non-commercial purposes.  Any other use, in particular any reproduction, communication to the public or distribution of the content of this website, in whole or in part, for any other purpose and/or by any other means, without a specific licence agreement signed with AFP, is strictly prohibited.  The subject matter depicted or included via links within the Fact Checking content is provided to the extent necessary for correct understanding of the verification of the information concerned.  AFP has not obtained any rights from the authors or copyright owners of this third party content and shall incur no liability in this regard.  AFP and its logo are registered trademarks.
Articles spread Tim Hortons closure hoax in Canada | AFP Fact Check