In Tofino, The Wickaninnish Inn is a popular destination for storm watchers. In Whistler, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler attracts sports enthusiasts from around the world. In Kelowna, Manteo Resort caters to vacationers and corporate guests of all ages and interests. On Pender Island, the Poet’s Cove Resort & Spa welcomes the "get away from it all" crowd. The four hotels couldn’t be more different in style or setting, but until recently they shared a familiar problem: an inability to recruit new staff locally. Fortunately, they found a common solution in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFW).
Prior to the program, the remote locations of both the Wickaninnish Inn and Poet’s Cove made recruitment especially difficult. “We seek people who are passionate about the hospitality trade, but Tofino tends to be the turnaround point for youths who travel across Canada doing odd jobs,” says Melody McLorie, the Wickaninnish's human resources manager. Walter Kohli, general manager of Poet’s Cove, says, “Pender Island is rural, has no nightlife or even public transit, so filling any staff position is tough.”
McLorie began seeking offshore help in 2005, when staffing was so tight that she was cleaning rooms and doing laundry herself. “Initially our Labour Market Opinion [LMO] was denied, but thanks to support from the British Columbia Hotel Association, go2 and Chemistry Consulting, we surmounted the bureaucratic hurdles and hired four people from the Philippines as housekeepers in December of 2007,” she says. Since then, McLorie has recruited 25 people altogether via TFW.
Val Amirov, who hails from Russia, is a new guest service agent at Poet's Cove. He has been accepted into the PNP program and is currently applying for permanent resident status. |
Kohli and his human resources manager, Melody Pender, recruited five temporary workers via TFW, plus eight more who were already in Canada and whose work permits were about to expire. “The latter was helpful because it gave us time to assess the individuals before their permits were renewed,” says Pender. “Altogether, we got people from Russia, Brazil, Morocco and Mexico.”
The first four TFW recruits at the Wickaninnish Inn have applied under the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for permanent resident status, and four have been approved. Of the 10 new staff still employed at Poet’s Cove, all are seeking landed immigrant status and six have gained PNP approval.
McLorie describes people who uproot themselves to obtain employment in Canada as being “extremely committed, and that commitment extends to their work ethic and their integration into the community.” For his part, Kohli has long-term hopes for his TFW recruits. “We want to offer management positions for some of our staff who become landed immigrants. As for integration, they’ve embraced the Pender Island lifestyle to the point where many do community volunteer work.”
Kenisha Hall-Walker came from Jamaica to work as a front desk agent at Manteo Resort. |
At Manteo Resort, general manager Heather Schroeter has brought in 12 people from Jamaica, Brazil, Germany and Russia since October of 2007 by using TFW and by recruiting students with temporary work permits from local colleges. “They do everything from housekeeping to front desk, kitchen, bellman, night audit and room service duties,” she says. Schroeter adds that the cosmopolitan mix has enhanced Manteo Resort’s appeal. “We have a vibrant array of cultures under one roof that is thoroughly enjoyed by other team members and our guests.” Of the 11 foreign workers who are still employed there, nine have applied for PNP approval.
It may seem unlikely that a hotel chain as large as the Fairmont would have difficulty recruiting locally for its luxury establishment in Whistler, but with the increase in hotels and strata properties over the years there has been more competition for jobs yet also a smaller local applicant pool. "The Fairmont Chateau Whistler strategically chose to focus their recruitment efforts on not just local and working holiday visa applicants," says human resources director Haley Sims. "The LMO/E-LMO program criteria have enabled us to recruit and retain applicants that have specific hotel and hospitality experience." Since 2007, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler has brought in more than 75 workers from other countries, including employees from far-flung Fairmont venues. "This has provided the opportunity for Fairmont employees from other Fairmont hotels around the world the ability to transfer, which would not have been possible without the Foreign Worker program," she says.
Newly arrived foreign workers enjoy a welcome reception at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler Colleague Housing facility. |
Sims notes that the hotel’s turnover rate has dropped from 66 per cent in 2006-07 to 26.9 per cent today. "The Fairmont Chateau Whistler invests in the career development and succession planning of all our colleagues. Our commitment and the support network we have already established, combined with government initiatives like PNP, have generated tremendous employee loyalty.”
McLorie views foreign recruitment as a necessary component of hospitality management. “Certainly we would save an enormous amount of time and money if we could fill every position locally. But to cite a recent example, I can’t even find qualified local massage therapists to fill three positions in my inn, so I’m looking offshore once again. That’s the reality of employment today. And considering the quality of people we get from other countries, I have no regrets.”
