This is an independent informational guide, not affiliated with Tim Hortons. Prices are typical ranges and vary by location and province. Tax is excluded and delivery app prices differ. Check the official Tim Hortons menu or app before ordering.
Prices last checked: October 2026. Prices below are typical Canadian ranges in Canadian dollars, before tax.
Lactose-free and dairy-free are not the same request, and Tim Hortons is a good place to learn the difference, because it sells a genuinely lactose-free drink line that is still very much dairy. This page keeps the two apart: first the lactose-free options, including the protein drinks and what is actually in their base, then the shorter list of things with no dairy in them at all. It works from the official allergen guide, July 2026 Canadian edition, and it is menu information, not medical advice. Anyone managing a milk allergy should work from the official guide and the crew in store, not from any website.
The distinction that runs this page
Lactose is the sugar in milk. Lactose-free dairy has had the lactose removed or broken down, usually with the enzyme lactase, while the milk proteins, casein and whey among them, stay right where they were. Dairy-free means no milk ingredients at all. So a lactose-free drink can be a sensible choice for someone avoiding lactose and a dangerous one for someone with a milk allergy, out of the same cup. Tim Hortons’ own allergen guide draws exactly this line, as the next section shows.
The protein drinks: lactose-free, not dairy-free
The protein line is built on a base the menu data names the Lactose-Free Protein Dairy Beverage: skim milk, water, milk protein concentrate, cream and lactase, among a short list of stabilizers and vitamins. The lactase is the point: the lactose is broken down before the drink is made. But the base is milk, and the official allergen guide marks every protein latte it lists as containing milk. So the Protein Latte, its iced versions and the Protein Quenchers are lactose-free drinks that remain dairy drinks, unsuitable for a milk allergy and irrelevant to anyone avoiding dairy entirely. Any site that files them under dairy-free has misread its own source.
Dairy-free as standard
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
| Black coffee, cold brew and iced coffee (black build) | No milk in the guide. The standard iced coffee build contains cream; order it black |
| Teas and Americano, black | No milk in the guide |
| Fruit Quenchers and Sparkling Quenchers (regular line) | No milk in the guide. The Protein Quenchers are a different build and contain the dairy base |
| Frozen Lemonade line | No milk as an ingredient; the guide carries may-contain notes only |
| Chili | The one item in the soup case with no milk in its allergen row, in both guide versions checked |
| Hash browns and potato wedges | No milk in the guide |
| Plain and Everything bagels | No milk as an ingredient in the current guide table; an older guide edition carried a may-contain note |
The soup case is the surprise entry here. Per the current guide, the chicken noodle soup contains milk, as do the cream of broccoli, the Garden Minestrone, the tomato parmesan and both chowders. Six of the seven soup and chili items carry milk. The chili is the exception, which is more than most people would guess about either side of that trade.
Plant milks: the swap and its limits
Canadian stores offer oat, almond and soy milk, launched with some fanfare: Silk almond in 2020 and Chobani oat across more than 4,000 locations in December 2021; soy is the least uniformly stocked of the three. They swap into brewed coffee, iced coffee, teas, lattes, iced lattes and cold brew. What they cannot fix is a drink whose dairy is in the base: French Vanilla, Hot Chocolate and Coffee Mocha are powder builds that contain milk before any milk is added, and the standard Iced Capp is marked contains milk in the guide, with reporting that the frozen base itself carries milk powder, so treat a plant-milk Iced Capp as unproven rather than dairy-free. On price, the official position from the almond launch was that plant milk added no cost in brewed and iced coffee and hot teas, while the charge in espresso drinks, tea lattes and frozen drinks varied by region. Current guides disagree about whether most stores still charge at all, and no amount is published anywhere.
For milk allergy readers
Three things bear repeating. First, lactose-free is not safe for you: the protein drinks contain milk protein in full. Second, may-contain is not contains, and the guide uses both deliberately; a may-contain note is a facility and cross-contact warning, not an ingredient. Third, the kitchen itself: the official guide warns that shared equipment and preparation areas mean cross-contact cannot be guaranteed against, and full ingredient lists are available only through a Guest Care request, per the official help centre. The official Nutrition and Allergens page is the document to make decisions from, ideally with the crew told before you order.
Frequently asked questions
Are the protein lattes dairy-free?
No. They are lactose-free and not dairy-free. The base is skim milk, milk protein concentrate and cream with lactase added, and the official allergen guide marks the protein lattes as containing milk.
What at Tim Hortons has no dairy at all?
Black coffees and teas, the regular fruit and sparkling Quenchers, the frozen lemonades, the chili, hash browns, potato wedges and the plainest bagels, all per the official allergen guide, and all subject to the cross-contact warning that comes with a shared kitchen.
Does Tim Hortons have lactose-free milk for regular drinks?
The lactose-free dairy base is published as the base of the protein line and as an add-on Tim Hortons says can go into coffees, teas, cold brews and Iced Capps. It is not listed as a standard milk swap for an ordinary latte the way oat, almond and soy are.
Is there an extra charge for oat milk?
It depends on the drink and the store. Tim Hortons’ launch policy made it free in brewed and iced coffee and hot teas and variable elsewhere. No current amount is published, and recent guides disagree about whether most locations charge.
Found a different price at your local Tim Hortons? Prices on this page are checked against published menu listings, but individual restaurants set their own prices and amounts change. Send the item, the price you paid and the city to contact@timsmenuprices.com and we will recheck it. How we work is set out in our Editorial Policy.
Companion guides: Tim Hortons Vegan Options, Is Tim Hortons Halal in Canada? and the full data on Nutrition and Allergens.