Looking at the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in the Alberta Restaurant Industry

Recent media coverage of the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program has cast our industry in an unfair light, with misleading narratives that ignore the reality within the vast majority of Canada’s hospitality businesses. As an organization representing the hospitality industry in Alberta, we see firsthand how essential TFWs are and how their labour positively impacts our province, particularly in rural and seasonal areas where the local population can not meet the market's labour demands.

Blanket allegations of mistreatment of temporary foreign workers are reprehensible. While we encourage specific allegations to be investigated thoroughly and offenders to be dealt with using the full extent of the law, overarching claims which attempt to smear an entire sector of our economy are baseless and do not reflect the majority of businesses in our vibrant and diverse industry. We believe that the Alberta restaurant sector is primarily led by dedicated individuals who consistently go the extra mile to support both their employees and their communities.

The recent report by The United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) on Contemporary Forms of Slavery country in Canada is inflammatory and limited in its research. The narrow scope of its investigation leads readers to think that a tiny portion of the TFW program represents the whole.

TFW are currently pivotal to our industry. Due to the pandemic, restaurants have utilized this program to fill the labour gap that was created in the wake of our industry being shut down. The TFW program was necessary to keep businesses afloat. In no way is the program used to replace Canadian workers in our industry, or to lower costs to operators, as the UNSR report suggests. In reality, the program is costly to operators and can take up to 18 months and copious amounts of paperwork to access. 

As the labour market improves, we anticipate a shift away from reliance on TFWs, with more positions being filled by permanent newcomers and youth, who have traditionally been the backbone of our workforce. Our industry is proud to be a top employer for new Canadians and a starting point for many young people in our economy. 

The Alberta Hospitality Association will continue to support our industry and its operators throughout our province.