Starbucks Canada pledges to hire 1,000 refugees

Starbucks Canada has committed to hiring at least 1,000 refugees over the next five years, the coffee giant said Wednesday.

The company said it would actively begin recruiting job candidates through the national organization, Hire Immigrants, which works with a network of municipal and provincial resettlement agencies.

Starbucks plans on kicking off the initiative within the next two months and concentrate on finding potential hires mostly in regions with the largest number of refugees including Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.

"It's a sign of the times," said spokeswoman Luisa Girotto. "It's a sign of great need (for Starbucks)."

The majority of the jobs will be permanent positions at the store level and the starting salary will be minimum wage, the company said.

The commitment is part of the coffee retailer's global goal announced in January to hire 10,000 refugees in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's temporary travel bans against Muslim-majority countries.

As of last fall, Starbucks Canada operated 1,399 locations across the country and employed more than 19,000 workers.