Turn local labour shortages into global opportunities

By Joe Baker, dean of the School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts at Centennial College in Toronto. 

The tourism and food and beverage industries are facing a talent shortfall. As dean of a fairly large hospitality, tourism and culinary arts school in Ontario, I find myself in a position where I can see the solution, but can’t do much about it other than share and hope others can act on my insight.  

Tourism HR Canada has been studying the labour market for many years and supporting industry with recommendations and strategies to build a sustainable workforce that can yield positive economic growth for Canada’s tourism sector, including the food and beverage industry. The organization is reporting significant labour shortages dampening growth in these huge sectors of our economy. 

Tourism HR Canada reports that in 2014 there were 1.7 million jobs in the tourism industry in Canada with an industry generating $187 billion and a projected labour shortage of 240,000 jobs. The food and beverage services industry was the largest employer among tourism businesses, accounting for 55 per cent of all tourism jobs.

I generally see two types of students come through Centennial College’s doors: resident and non-resident students. Thousands of non-resident students come to Canada each year from around the world with hopes of finding career success in hospitality, tourism and culinary arts through programs at Canadian colleges and universities.  

This would seem like a natural fit — an industry in need of a skilled labour force and a pool of newly educated graduates looking to launch meaningful careers in these industries. 

So what’s the catch? I think there’s a gap in communication and a lack of shared knowledge that can help both sides.

When students come here from other countries they apply for study permits through the Canadian government. They can apply for a post-graduation work permit for a period as long as the duration of their program of study, up to a maximum of three years. 

If they want to stay here permanently and work towards their permanent resident status, they have to go through a complicated immigration program full of nuance and uncertainty. Good progress has been made recently to modernize this system through what is now known as express entry. They need sufficient language benchmarking and at least one year of full-time work experience in a skill type 0 or level A or B job. Governed by national occupational classification codes, skill type 0 refers to management jobs like restaurant or hotel manager. Skill level A represents professional occupations, such as a doctor or architect. Skill level B jobs are technical or skilled trades, such as bakers or cooks. See a problem here? Most jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry are classified as skill level C or D jobs and do not help connect our non-resident graduates with opportunities for immigration. 

Why? Mainly because the Canadian government doesn’t see entry level hospitality and tourism jobs as technical or skilled despite mounting evidence we are in a “skilled” labour shortage. And despite the onslaught of industry groups working to build campaigns highlighting the virtues of careers in this significant industry. 

If a graduate is lucky enough to land a supervisory or management position upon graduation, they can use this experience as part of their permanent resident application. But as you can imagine, not many graduates from two-year diploma programs or even four-year degree programs, for that matter, are finding opportunities as managers immediately upon graduation. So this is not particularly helpful for either non-resident grads looking to stay or industry partners looking to build their workforce. 

Graduates of culinary or baking programs are in luck. And these do not have to be Red Seal trades — grads from one-year certificates or two-year diplomas fall into this group. Landing positions such as cooks or bakers will help these graduates work towards permanent resident status and stay in Canada to build their lives and most significantly for our industry, grow their careers. Cooks in the restaurant sector and bakers in the commercial baking sector are some of the most in-demand positions. This probably explains the surge in Ontario colleges offering culinary and baking programs and the growth from non-resident applicants. 

Unfortunately, many front line positions in the hospitality and tourism side of the industry do not meet this threshold. They are not considered technical jobs or skilled trades and experience in them will not help graduates with their permanent resident application process. Therefore, these highly skilled non-resident grads may even be avoiding of these jobs after school, putting even more pressure on these employers to find and retain workers and creating a class of graduates who are looking for work outside their area of expertise. 

What can we all do to solve this problem? If you are an industry organization in need of a sustainable source of cooks or bakers, I suggest reaching out to your local college who is producing highly skilled graduates every year and make a commitment. Offer to hire non-resident culinary and baking graduates in a full-time capacity for the one-year post-graduation they need to process their permanent residence applications. And support them through the process. It’s complicated and if English is not their first language, they may need your help and patient stewardship. They definitely need your advocacy and persistence. And they will become a stable sustainable labour pool from which you can grow your organization. 

If you are in an industry such as hospitality, foodservice, hotels, tourism, conventions, attractions or any other sector that the Canadian government doesn’t see an acute need to support workforce development in through immigration, find your voice. 

Reach out to your local advocacy organization such as Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association or Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. Ask them to lobby the policy makers in Immigration Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to recognize the real and legitimate labour shortage facing this industry and the real potential that non-resident students have to bridge the skill gap. They are already here investing their time, effort and money just for the chance to join this industry and this country. In many cases, they arrive here well educated and already with relevant experience.

And if all else fails call me, I’ve got a school filled with people who are just looking for a chance to start their careers in one of the most dynamic industries in this country. 

All they need is your faith in them, your advocacy for careers in this industry and your courage to commit to them and see them through these complicated processes. Help them build their careers and their lives in this country. 

I promise you will be rewarded.