But this year, she’s only been able to hire five staff.
“We run at 50 per cent hours, so we’re not open late — and that is disappointing a lot of our fans,” said Chan, owner of Zog’s Dogs and Moguls Coffee House.
With peak season in full swing, Whistler is among many communities in B.C. that continue to grapple with a pandemic-induced worker shortage that’s showing no signs of climbing back up.
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“Everyone is seeing a drop in applicants,” added Chan, who is also also the board chair of the resort municipality’s chamber of commerce. “Pretty much every business is at some point struggling with staffing.”
Restaurant owners and industry leaders are already looking ahead to the 2022 summer tourism season, hoping that by then provincial and federal governments will have policies in place to allow more foreign workers to enter the country and fill vacant roles.
“This is the winter we’re going to have, there’s nothing we can do to change the winter. We’re now turning to the summer hiring,” she said.
Down 40,000 workers
According to the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association (BCFRA), the industry is down about 40,000 workers — or about 20 per cent of its workforce.
President and CEO Ian Tostenson says he doesn’t expect the domestic market can fill gaps anytime soon.
“The only way we’re going to deal with this crisis that we’re in is through skilled foreign workers,” said Tostenson.
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That’s why the BCRFA says it’s asked the provincial government to exempt B.C. employers from having to apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for a two-year period.
LMIA’s are documents that employers in Canada often need before they are able to hire a foreign worker. The purpose of it is to show that there are no domestic workers available for the job — but the process of obtaining an LMIA can take months.
Chan says many small businesses in Whistler have been unable to hire foreign workers amid LMIA requirements.
Calls to speed up processing times
The BCFRA says it has also asked the province to call on Ottawa to expedite work permits for skilled foreign workers headed to B.C. to fill roles in kitchens — hopefully in time for the summer season.
“What could be taking nine months to a year right now, we think we could get it down to six months,” said Tostenson.
CBC News has reached out to both the province and the federal government in asking whether these recommendations might be considered.
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The $15 billion restaurant industry in B.C. has been among the hardest hit by the pandemic, hit by a series of shutdowns and having to adapt to new COVID-19 protocols, Tostenson said. That’s why he thinks work permits for restaurant workers coming from abroad should be fast-tracked.
“We need to make this a priority,” he said.
