Labour shortage hitting Ottawa's hospitality sector
At Fratelli’s in Kanata, the patio is full and the kitchen staff are cooking scrumptious Italian dishes, but owner Richard Valente says they’re barely hanging on.
“The last few months have been awful in terms of staffing you just can’t find people,” he said.
Before the pandemic, Valente says Fratelli’s had no issues hiring staff—either in the dining room or in the kitchen, but things are different now.
“Barely any roll in looking for jobs. Kids are looking for summer jobs, which is fine, but when August 15 rolls around and they go to university it’s going to be quite the dilemma and we’re discussing the possibility of closing an extra day,” he said.
It’s not just the restaurant industry. Staff shortages are also causing delays and lineups in every sector in the hospitality business.
A recent report from Statistics Canada shows the job vacancy rate was highest in food services and accommodation, at 11.9 per cent.
“I know hotels don’t have rooms in operation simply because they can’t service them,” said Steve Ball with the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association.
Ball says managers have had to fill in for maids at times. The answer may be hiring foreign workers—but red tape and timing is a problem.
“There are workers who want to work in Canada but they can’t get here fast enough,” he said. “If you can’t get a work visa until September, it misses the season.”
University of Concordia economics professor Moshe Lander points to several factors causing these shortages and disruptions.
“Baby Boomers retiring, Gen Z-ers that don’t have work experience, COVID that has changed the way tourism food beverage work is leaving people scrambling to find what the new normal is,” said Lander.
With tourism season in Canada kicked into high gear, Valente is worried about his staff burning out.
“I don’t know I don’t think it’s going to better; it’s going to get worse and it’s very worrisome as a business owner,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.