Quebec hotel industry rings alarm over staff shortages ahead of the summer

Though the coming tourism season is looking promising — with many Canadians choosing to spend their summer vacation here instead of going to the United States — Quebec's hotel association says changes to the temporary foreign worker program have thrown a wrench into staffing plans.

As part of new rules introduced last September, employers are limited to hiring 10 per cent of their workforce through the program's low-wage stream. These contracts are also now generally limited to one year. 

Véronyque Tremblay, the chairman and CEO of Association hôtellerie du Québec (AHQ) says that means its members are letting go of much needed workers.

"They're heartbreaking goodbyes that are truly difficult, right when we need them," she said. "It's economic nonsense, it's operational nonsense, but it's also human nonsense."

Élodie Gillon and her husband have been working in Quebec through the temporary foreign worker program since their move to Canada from France in January 2024. They both work at Spa Eastman in the Montérégie — Gillon as an administrative supervisor and her husband as a cook.

Her permit expires at the end of the year, but knowing that it can only be renewed for one more year at a time makes her nervous, she says.

"It's hard for us to picture ourselves elsewhere than Quebec because we've really settled ourselves," she said. "Our children too ... We've redone our lives here. We sold everything that we had in France to come here."

According to a survey conducted by AHQ among its members, 91 per cent said they were struggling to hire staff for this summer with employers responding that they were missing on average three to 10 employees.

Among them is Andrew Torriani, the CEO of The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Montreal. He says he's had to see 10 of his employees leave Canada since the new rules came into effect and that he still hasn't been able to replace them.

Processing delays for permits have also slowed down considerably lately, he says.

He says hiring people locally is always the first instinct; renewing a work permit for a foreign worker can cost him up to $2,000.

"We don't do this just willy-nilly, he said, adding that he looks to hire "the best." 

He says not everyone can stomach the trials of the industry and that Quebec doesn't have enough hospitality schools.

Tremblay says the positions that are most often filled by temporary foreign workers include janitorial staff, overnight jobs and kitchen staff.

She says they've already tried raising salaries to make that kind of work more attractive to locals, but with limited success.

"We have to stop thinking that these are people that are coming in to steal jobs from Quebecers. It's to the contrary, work that Quebecers don't want to do," she said.

She'd like to see more flexibility from the government to help employers hold onto the staff from abroad that are already here.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the cabinet of Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge said "there are too many non permanent residents in Quebec" and public services are stretched to the limit.

It points to the fact that changes to the temporary foreign worker program made by the Quebec government only affect Montreal and Laval whereas the changes affecting the regions derive from federal decision makers. 

"Businesses must turn to automation and robotization. The arrival of foreign workers must be a solution of last resort," reads the statement.

CBC News also reached out to the federal government but did not hear back by the time of publication.