Rural restaurants are waiting to hear from provincial governments on whether they will receive a temporary reprieve for their labour force challenges through the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) cap increase, says Restaurants Canada.
On March 13, the federal government announced it would temporarily increase the cap on TFWs in rural regions experiencing severe labour shortages, but only if the province officially requests it. While April 1 was the first day employers could potentially participate in this change, most have yet to hear from their provincial governments, said the national organization.
“Restaurants Canada is asking provincial governments across the country to support rural restaurants and communities by opting into this temporary TFW cap increase,” said Kelly Higginson, President and CEO of Restaurants Canada. “We need long-term workforce solutions that include investments in youth training, technology and immigration with a path to permanent residency, but in the meantime, restaurants need workers now.”
TFWs represent just 3% of the foodservice workforce and are a last resort for employers, filling critical gaps in communities with aging populations, shrinking workforces and declining youth participation rates. Hiring a TFW is expensive and employers must prove they have been unable to hire locally at the prevailing market wage. They often fill skilled positions, like chefs or cooks, or hard-to-fill shifts, like overnights. When these roles go unfilled, restaurants have to drop shifts, cut hours of operation or possibly close their businesses, explained Restaurants Canada.
“In some rural communities, restaurants may be the only source of local employment for youth,” added Higginson. “They are community gathering spaces, places for travelers and locals to have a meal. Losing a restaurant in these communities is devastating.”
Restaurants Canada said its Many Hands Make Restaurants Work campaign highlights the systemic labour force challenges facing the foodservice industry that employs more than 1.2 million people, 39% of whom are youth, and serves more than 23 million visitors every day. Despite having the second highest wage growth of any industry since 2021, there are 70,000 foodservice jobs vacant across the country.
Restaurants Canada is a national, not-for-profit association advancing Canada’s diverse and dynamic foodservice industry. Restaurants are a $125 billion industry employing 1.2 million Canadians and the number one source of first-time jobs in Canada.
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Is anyone actually buying this? First of all, any increase in TFWs for rural regions is going to end up being permanent. A year, two years, five years from now, restaurants and other businesses in rural areas are going to argue that the same conditions they experience today have not improved, and therefore the increase should be extended. Secondly, the reason businesses want TFWs is not because there aren’t Canadians available for the vacant jobs, it’s that employers want to pay less than Canadians are willing to accept. Offer higher wages for restaurant jobs (particularly for overnight work) and a sufficient pool of Canadian applicants will magically appear. Third, the biggest risk is that once an exemption is in place for rural businesses and restaurants, urban restaurants and other businesses are going to make the case that THEY are disadvantaged and they too should be allowed to bring in many more TFWs.