A newly introduced piece of Alberta legislation is raising alarm bells across the province's foodservice sector, with industry leaders warning that the Immigration Oversight Act will make it even harder for restaurants to find the workers they desperately need.
Restaurants Canada, the national industry association representing foodservice operators, says the act — introduced by the Alberta government on April 1 — piles additional bureaucratic hurdles onto an already lengthy and expensive process for accessing the federal Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.
"The preference is always to hire Albertans, but in some regions, there are just not enough workers available, or they don't have the right training and skills," said Kelly Higginson, President and CEO of Restaurants Canada. "You can't operate a kitchen without a trained chef or maintain a 24/7 rest stop if no one is willing to work overnight."
A $16-Billion Industry Under Pressure
Alberta's restaurant industry is no small player in the provincial economy. The sector generates approximately $16 billion in annual revenue, representing 3.3 per cent of Alberta's GDP, and employs roughly 155,000 workers across the province. Of those, more than 63,000 are young workers under the age of 25 — accounting for over 40 per cent of the foodservice workforce. Youth employment in the sector grew by 4.7 per cent over the past year.
However, Restaurants Canada notes that young workers often have limited availability due to school schedules and tend to be concentrated in urban centres near post-secondary institutions, leaving rural and remote operators with thin hiring pools.
TFWs: A Small but Critical Slice of the Workforce
Temporary foreign workers make up just three per cent of Alberta's foodservice workforce, but industry representatives argue that share is disproportionately vital. TFWs fill skilled roles such as chefs and cooks, overnight shifts at highway rest stops, and positions in rural communities where local recruitment has proven unsuccessful.
Under existing federal rules, employers must already demonstrate they are unable to recruit locally at the prevailing market wage before they can access the TFW program — a process Restaurants Canada describes as already long, costly, and complex. The new provincial legislation, the group says, layers additional requirements on top of that, creating what they call unnecessary red tape for small business owners who are already stretched thin.
If Alberta restaurants lose access to this pipeline of skilled workers, operators may be forced to shorten operating hours, reduce shifts, or in some cases shut their doors entirely — an outcome that would affect not only owners but the tens of thousands of Albertans employed in the sector.
With food and dining costs already a concern for many households, disruptions to restaurant operations could have ripple effects across the broader cost of living. Readers tracking local price trends can visit Calgary Prices for ongoing data on Calgary's cost of living and consumer expenses.
Restaurants Canada has called on the Alberta government to reconsider provisions of the act that add friction to TFW recruitment and to work collaboratively with the industry on practical solutions to the province's ongoing labour shortage.
Source: Financial Post / GlobeNewswire. Original reporting by Jennifer Blackwood.