Canadian HR Reporter Weekly

2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 CANADIAN HR REPORTER WEEKLY Canada's hoteliers recently received a boost from the fed- eral government to help them integrate more newcomers into the $41.2-billion-per-year industry. e industry is facing "chronic" shortages of workers and has been for some time, said Philip Mondor, president of Tourism HR Canada in Ottawa. "It's going to get much worse," he said. "is project is one of many strategies, but it's a key one where it's designed to have us better link with new Canadians and to give them stable, good-paying hotel jobs… e sector is more diverse than any of the other economic sectors in Canada. But we need more workers and this is the obvious group to work with as a priority." Unveiled in June, the three-year "Employing Newcomers in Canadian Hotels" pilot program will see $7 million allocated to connect immigrants with hotel jobs in five regions across the country. e five sites are southern Ontario; Saskatchewan; Banff, Lake Louise and Calgary; the Maritimes; and Yukon, said Alana Baker, director of government relations with the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) in Ottawa, which is partnering with Tourism HR Canada to deliver the funds. "e overall aim of the project is to employ at least 1,300 unemployed or underemployed newcomers into sustainable, well-paid, long-term hotel jobs," she said. e program is part of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's $32-million in funding for service delivery improvements and innovations under the government's settlement program. Labour supply shortages e money is expected to address the clear number-one issue facing the tourism sector and the hotel industry, said Baker. "Labour supply shortages in our sector remain the single biggest issue of concern for our members and hoteliers," she said. "Sixty-six per cent of accommodation businesses see labour issues as a significant business impediment." "Today, the hotel industry has thousands of available jobs. e hotels are short-staffed and as that demand continues to rise, we, in turn, face a situation that is out of balance." Some of the numbers are staggering, said Mondor. "Over the last 15 years, there were 100,000 jobs that went unfilled. And that accounted for approximately $11 billion of lost revenues. Our predictions over the next 15 to 17 years, there's still 150,000 jobs that will go unfilled." Because of its unique position, this program may help integrate more new Canadians into the country and workforce, said Darlene Grant Fiander, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia in Halifax. "Tourism is a sector where there's certainly demand in many communities (and it's) a great way to connect those new Canadians to jobs in our sector," she said. Language training One of the main aspects of the new effort will be to provide language skill training. "Most of the language training will actually occur while people are on the job, doing work, getting paid and they'll learn language through different means," said Mondor. "Language issues are the largest barrier that any new Canadian faces in terms of connecting with employment, most of it because they don't have proficiency in English or French." Hoteliers get millions to hire newcomers, ease 'chronic' industry labour shortage Pilot project aims to offer 1,300 'sustainable, well-paid, long-term' jobs BY JOHN DUJAY Sign up for the Canadian HR Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian HR Reporter. HR News at Your Fingertips THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Visit www.hrreporter.com/ canadian-hr-newswire

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