Advertisement

Okanagan culinary industry starved of trained workers, offering incentives

Click to play video: 'Okanagan culinary industry starved for trained workers, offering incentives'
Okanagan culinary industry starved for trained workers, offering incentives
Okanagan culinary industry starved for trained workers, offering incentives – Sep 29, 2017

Consumers are hungry for culinary tourism options in the Okanagan Valley, but the industry is starved of trained culinary workers.

“There are more restaurants opening, wineries opening, the construction trade seems to be on fire right now in the Okanagan Valley so we’re definitely seeing the crunch of that demand for talent,” said Daniel Bibby, the executive director of Spirit Ridge Resort in Osoyoos.

Story continues below advertisement

Mica Executive Chef Nicholas Atkins said it’s tough to find trained and reliable line cooks.

The demand for trained workers is so high that culinary arts schools are getting bombarded with calls from employers.

“A week doesn’t go by that I don’t get five or six requests for staff,” said Chef Bernard Casavant at Okanagan College. “They’re getting creative by phoning a culinary school and saying I need people, I need bodies to run my business.”

Seasonal employment, wages, the high cost of living and a lack of affordable housing all contribute to the problem.

Story continues below advertisement
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Audrey Surrao, owner of RauDZ Creative Concepts which operates three restaurants in the Okanagan, said short-term rentals are taking much needed rental housing stock off of the market.

“What are our options, where do we go when all of the inventory of places our potential staff could live are being used for Airbnb?” she said.

Some employers are even offering incentives like end of season and referral bonuses, transportation and accommodation.

Dave Keeler, President of Vintage Hospitality which manages six south Okanagan restaurants, said he’s even housed workers in his own home.

Story continues below advertisement

“We had two chefs that came to work for us, they came from Alberta, they found it tough to find accommodation initially, and we put them up in a spare room in our house for two months,” he said.

The company is exploring purpose-built accommodation to house skilled labour.

“A lot of the camps up in the Fort McMurray area have portable units that are modular that become homes for people, we’re looking at that,” Bibby said.

The industry organization tasked with assisting tourism businesses with their labour challenges said it’s a global issue.

“We are scouring the province, the country and the world for professional culinary staff, there is a shortage…it is a global problem,” said go2HR CEO Arlene Keis.

The Okanagan food and beverage industry is trying to stir up a recipe for success.

Sponsored content

AdChoices