Hotel groups in Quebec's two largest cities are facing a critical worker shortage that they say could be alleviated with the help of temporary foreign workers, but the government is getting in their way.
After two long years of COVID-19 health measures, the summer of 2022 was the summer hotels had been hoping for.
"The hotel industry is really happy. The forecast for the end of 2022, for 2023 is good, but we don't have the workers to answer the demand," said Jean-Sebastien Boudreault, president of the Greater Montreal Hotels Association.
Boudreault said that threatens the industry's post-pandemic recovery. The labour shortage is forcing hotels to lower their capacity, on average, by more than 15 per cent, he said
On top of that, hotel workers are burned out and want to quit.
"Even the GMs of hotels, they worked this summer 80-90 hours a week because they had to do their GM work and then afterwards they would tear down the rooms and clean the rooms," he said.
As a last resort, the industry is turning to temporary foreign workers. In Quebec City alone, hotels are trying to recruit 1,500 people before April but the visa application process can take nine to 12 months, meaning they're already too late for next summer.
"We are taking care of ourselves, but in a legal, rational, industrial society, when an industrial sector and entrepreneurs take care of themselves and put forward solutions, it is completely unacceptable that the state — the bureaucrats — do not follow," charged Alupa Clarke, head of the Quebec City hotels' association.
Clarke is calling on whichever political party forms government after the provincial election in October to prioritize hotel industry applications for foreign workers.
In last week's party leaders' debate, some of them advocated for less immigration — not more.
"Whatever target they decide to put forward in terms of immigration for the province annually, we just want the hotel sector to be prioritized because our situation is dire," Clarke said.
Any breakdown in service.. he says... could mean a reputational hit for the province... and international business.
"If you don't have the hotels, there are many industries that [will suffer]," said Boudreault, at a time when businesses are still trying to recover from the pandemic, - and need all the help they can get.
