Quebec hoteliers and restaurateurs are appealing to the federal government for help. Faced with a lack of manpower jeopardizing the quality of the reception of tourists this summer, six associations asked Wednesday to facilitate the use of temporary foreign workers in their establishments.
“Our sector has suffered a lot during the pandemic and there we are asking for love from the federal government,” pleaded the director general of the Hotel Association of the Quebec City region (AHRQ), Alupa Clarke.
The Quebec Hotel Association (AHQ), the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal (AHGM), the AHRQ, the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean Hotel Association (AHSLSJ), the Association of Hoteliers of Abitibi- Témiscamingue (AHAT) and the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ) are requesting the suspension for two years of the requirement to obtain a labor market impact study (LMIA). This approach to the government aims to confirm that “the temporary foreign worker fills a need” and that “no Canadian or permanent resident is available to do the work in question”. It costs $1,000 per potential employee and can take four to six months, according to AHGM CEO Jean-Sébastien Boudreault.
“Afterwards, for some workers, you have to apply for a work permit, which is between three and six months. Imagine: the complete time to make this request including the LMIA can go up to 12 months. Therefore, employers must plan in advance the number of employees they need by job category, 12 months in advance. It’s almost impossible,” said Mr. Boudreault, since the pandemic has made labor needs unpredictable in the medium and long term.
This industry also considers that the LMIA is currently useless, since the needs are undeniably glaring. “Career employees have left us, there are no resumes coming in, people are not showing up for interviews,” summed up Martin Vézina, vice-president of public affairs for the ARQ.
If the LMIA requirement were lifted, these associations estimate that it would be possible to recruit hundreds of foreign workers within weeks, especially those who do not need tourist visas, such as Mexicans and Europeans. . In the medium term, these companies plan to recruit, among other places, in the Maghreb and the Philippines, whether for management, customer service or maintenance positions.
In March, these associations estimated that 32,000 positions were vacant in the hotel and restaurant industry in Quebec.