“It’s going to hurt restaurants. We’re being rolled in flour. We had a bunch of employees stolen after COVID-19,” denounces the owner of the Chic Tandi! restaurant in Quebec, who has difficulty digesting the fact that Ottawa is lowering the threshold for temporary foreign workers (TEF) from 30% to 20% next May.
“The shortage is not over,” says Hugues Philippin, owner of the restaurant Chic Tandi!, in Quebec.
Today, he can count on two Mexican cooks and a Filipino to do the washing and cleaning, but he fears he won’t be able to keep them afterwards. He also believes that his chances of recruiting another temporary foreign worker have just melted away.
“We were starting the process of bringing in another person. These workers are essential,” he worries.
Fernada Ximena Arana Rios, Mexican cook, at Chic Tandi! with the owner Hugues Filipino.
PROVIDED BY HUGUES PHILIPPIN
Cold shower
On Thursday, Ottawa announced that the 1er Next May, the percentage of temporary foreign workers (TEF) would drop from 30% to 20%, except in construction and health.
The news had the effect of a cold shower for the Association Restauration Québec (ARQ), which described it as “a real bomb for the industry, on the eve of the intensive recruitment period with a view to the high summer season.
- Listen to the interview with Fernando Borja, general director of FERME, via QUB :
“Some could even face the complete closure of their establishment, being at the end of their resources,” the organization went so far as to say.
The Cage spared
At La Cage, we can breathe a sigh of relief because the kitchens are spared.
“This does not impact La Cage since we are eligible for “simplified processing”. Our cook, sous chef and chef positions are recognized as being in labor shortage, so we are not subject to the TFW threshold per workplace (10-20-30%) and our durations of employment LMIAs remain between 12 to 18 months,” we note.
Retailers worried
Asked by The newspaperretailers also said they were worried on Friday by the new TET limitations.
According to Michel Rochette, president – Quebec of the Canadian Retail Council (CCCD), “retail businesses and the entire ecosystem of suppliers and producers that surround them, including the food supply chain” are at risk of to taste.
“This surprise measure will accentuate the labor shortage and hamper the ability of our key sector to plan and develop. We need migration policies that are stable and predictable,” he lamented.
Friday, The newspaper reported that requiring Mexican visas for TFWs could jeopardize the start of the season, sending vegetable prices through the roof and even pushing some already fragile farms into bankruptcy.