TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – October 18, 2024

I absolutely adore my daughter but the fact that we’re very much alike ironically also causes tension between us. We’re both strong-willed and opinionated on certain subjects which makes for some lively discussions.

Over dinner one night at a popular restaurant, she scolded me for asking the server where he was originally from and how he came to live in BC. She claimed I was invading his privacy and that my line of questioning was offensive. Wait. What? After I mumbled something about woke, a battle royal ensued.

For decades I’ve asked dozens of servers the aforementioned questions and virtually every one of them was happy to share their story of either immigrating to Canada, moving to BC from another province, making a pit stop here on a working holiday visa, studying at one of our post-secondary institutions, or marrying a Canadian citizen and building a new life in their chosen country. The many tales I’ve heard always make me smile and remind me of my immigrant parents who were warmly embraced as newcomers to Canada despite their thick accents and limited English language skills.

The fact is, BC’s tourism and hospitality sector workforce is flush with people from other countries, a portion of them here as part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFW). However, much to the chagrin of our industry, that could all change soon unless the federal government backs away from the latest revisions that restrict TFWs to one-year contracts instead of two and limit workplaces to fill only 10 percent of total positions with TFWs instead of the most recent 20 percent cap.

My friend at Restaurants Canada, Mark von Schellwitz, explains that government’s move will have dire consequences for his sector which is still looking to fill some 73,000 positions across the country. Mark points out that on top of recruitment efforts, Labour Market Impact Assessment fees, arduous paperwork and bureaucracy, plus the time spent training a new worker, it’s hardly worth it for an employer to invest the time and expense only to get one year of employment out of a TFW. Consequently, many positions will continue to remain vacant or operators will need to reduce hours, and in a worst-case scenario, close shop altogether.

The Federal Government’s TFW policy is an issue that TIABC, our national, provincial and territorial counterparts, as well as multiple other sector associations like TIABC member Restaurants Canada have been trying to resolve for years with regular lobbying and a long list of recommendations, some of which have landed, others not. Suffice it to say, here we go again.

Similarly, changes to international student post-graduate work permits targeting colleges, universities and institutes may have unintended consequences for Canadian tourism and hospitality students because many programs that rely heavily on international enrollment to help subsidize costs may no longer be available.

Recently, Canada’s Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister, Marc Miller, announced a new series of reforms to reduce the number of temporary residents that include further reductions to overall international student numbers and changes to post-graduate work eligibility for those studying at private and public colleges and universities, which, by the way, often have comprehensive systems in place to ensure their programs line up with national labour market needs as per government’s directive.

However, notwithstanding there is little consideration given to the needs of local labour markets and the reliance on graduates of all post-secondary institutions to fill positions, the problem is that the tourism and hospitality sector has been excluded from the small list of identified industries that qualify these students to receive their work permits. This comes at a time when these programs are already seeing a decline in enrollment in many parts of the province for myriad other reasons. Furthermore, it’s not only another blow for many colleges and universities, but also the tourism workforce, especially in smaller communities.

Simply put, a blunt, one-size-fits-all, national policy does not work for BC or many other provinces and territories. Once again, TIABC, our post-secondary institution members, and our counterparts from across the country are appealing to the federal government to back away from the restrictions or to make more critical industries like tourism and hospitality eligible for graduates of multiple programs to receive work permits. We have a lot of work to do in a short period of time to fix a serious issue. More to come soon.

Admittedly, I often say things to get a rise out of my wonderful daughter who always seems to take the bait and enter into an argument about something innocuous. For me it’s fun but perhaps not so much for her. For the record…she’s nothing like I’ve made her out to be. She’s actually very kind, gentle, sweet, and loving…just like her father. 😃

Walt Judas
CEO, TIABC