While ski resorts are grateful for mother nature’s boost to their bottom line, they’re encountering ongoing problems finding enough workers.
“I think potential applicants are maybe a bit hesitant given the unknown at the beginning of the season,” said Julia Grant, Grouse Mountain’s Communications Manager.
For all three North Shore mountains, the season is off to great start, with a record number of people coming out over the holidays.
READ MORE: Winter storms a welcome return for B.C.’s ski hills
But there hasn’t always been enough staff to keep up with all that traffic.
“We were seeing fewer applications at the start of the season, but since we’ve seen the snow coming and the conditions that we’ve had and an increase in applications, although we are still hiring for positions,” said Grant.
In recent years, ski resorts across B.C. have been coping with labour shortages.
However, this year, it’s a bit more challenging.
The combination of a good start to the ski season and a low Canadian dollar means tourists are flocking to the hills. At Whistler Blackcomb, that’s meant more skiers and snowboarders than there are instructors.
“We’re pretty staffed up and our crunch points are in our ability to meet the demand on ski and snowboard lessons, as well as well as in some of our culinary outlets,” said Joel Chevalier, Vice President of Employee Experience at Whistler Blackcomb.
“If we could have more ski instructors right now, we would take more ski instructors right now.”
According to the results of a December 2015 survey, members of the Canada West Ski Areas Association reported on average a shortage of 11 employees – three of those 11 at the higher skill range.
New rules in the temporary foreign workers program also means resorts that would bring in instructors from abroad might not be able to anymore, prompting calls for the new federal government to reverse some of the changes.
“We lobbied the Conservative government on that issue with very limited success. We’ve continued those advocacy efforts with the new federal Liberal government and we’re advocating to restore legitimate access to the Temporary Foreign Worker program and also to protect the Working Holiday Visa program,” said David Lynn, President and CEO of Canada West Ski Areas Association.
“We certainly don’t condone any of the abuses of the temporary foreign workers program that have taken place in recent years, but we do believe there are people who use that program for legitimate purposes.”
According to CWSAA, there were 4.7 million skier visits in 2015.
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