2002-06: Regaining independence

Tim Hortons franchises spread rapidly and eventually overtook McDonald's as Canada's largest food service operator. The company opened twice as many Canadian outlets as McDonald's by 2005, and system-wide sales also surpassed those of McDonald's Canadian operations as of 2002. The chain accounted for 22.6% of all fast food industry revenues in Canada in 2005.

Under pressure from major investors Peter May and Nelson Peltz, in late 2005, Wendy's announced it would sell between 15% and 18% of the Tim Hortons operations in an initial public offering, which was completed on March 24, 2006, and subsequently said it would spin off to shareholders its remaining interest by the end of 2006. Wendy's cited increased competition between the two chains and Tim Hortons' increasing self-sufficiency as reasons for its decision, but the company had been under shareholder pressure to make such a move because of the strength and profitability of the Tim Hortons brand. Peltz in 2008 acquired Wendy's after pressuring them initially to spin off Tim Hortons.

Shares of the company began trading on March 24, 2006, with an initial public offering of C$27 per share, raising over $700 million in the first day of trading. On September 24, 2006, Wendy's spun off the rest of its shares in Tim Hortons, by distributing the remaining 82% to its shareholders. On the same day, Tim Hortons was added to Canada's benchmark stock-market indicator, the S&P/TSX Composite Index, and to the S&P/TSX 60. Despite maintaining its operational headquarters in Oakville, the spun-off holding company, Tim Hortons Inc., was initially incorporated in Delaware.

As of March 2006, Tim Hortons commanded 76% of the Canadian market for baked goods (based on the number of customers served) and held 62% of the Canadian coffee market (compared to Starbucks, in the number two position, at 7%).