A popular restaurant that has served Vancouver’s Chinatown for more than four decades is closing its doors for good.
But Daisy Garden Kitchen isn’t shuttering due to rising rents or a lack of business. Instead, owner Susanna Ng says the business simply can’t find enough staff to keep the doors open.
“The main reason is a labour shortage,” Ng told Global News.
“Running this for a year, I found it’s hard to get staff. Before we closed, I had openings in the front, also at the back, with the chef and the barbeque chef. Even the dishwasher is retiring.”
What’s more, Ng says many of her staff are nearing retirement age and are opting to work fewer hours as they approach 65.
Daisy Garden originally opened in 1979, but was forced to close in 2015 due to a devastating fire. Ng poured more than $1.4 million into a renovation but was forced to delay reopening due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ng reopened the doors last year, only to find herself in a situation now where she feels forced to close them again — and she’s offering the business at a bargain price: $398,000.
“Someone is getting a good deal. Of course, I am a little bit picky in choosing the right person,” she said.
“My heart is in Chinatown, and I want Chinatown booming, I don’t want someone fooling around and shut down again, I really want someone who can run the business.”
Ng, who also owns New Town Bakery, said the labour issue has been growing worse for a decade.
She said a lack of affordable parking in the neighbourhood has exacerbated the problem. And she said that in addition to a shortage of local workers, there’s also a lack of entry-level immigrants and foreign workers.
The Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association said Ng’s troubles aren’t unique, and could seriously challenge the entire neighbourhood as the summer approaches.
“I think it is going to be a problem if a lot of the businesses are small businesses, shopkeepers, they have small staffs, mom and pop shops — as we head into summer season, cruise ship time, and more people come into Chinatown, I think we want to keep the doors open,” BIA president Jordan Ng said.
“In the past we’ve been focusing on the skilled and high net worth individuals (as immigrants), but we are really going to need to have people that are going to support he community right at the entry level. And the sooner the better.”
British Columbia’s restaurant sector has been sounding the alarm about the labour shortage for several years.
B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association president and CEO Ian Tostenson said wages are not the problem.
The average starting wage for front of house staff is generally in the $17-$18 per hour range, plus tips, he said — well above minimum wage. Kitchen staff typically are starting off at well over $20 per hour, he added.
With restaurants unable to fill out their rosters even when offering competitive wages, he said both levels of government need to make it easier to get immigrants and temporary foreign workers approved.
To bring on a temporary foreign worker in B.C., businesses need to obtain what is known as a Labour Market Impact Assessment, which demonstrates no Canadians or permanent residents are available for the job.
Tostenson said B.C. businesses are submitting as many as 3,000 LMIA applications a month, and that getting that paperwork approved can take close to a year in some cases.
He said something needs to be done to clear the backlog.
“To get a foreign worker in B.C. is 10 months, Alberta five months,” he said.
“We need to be a leader in immigration. B.C. right now is at the bottom of the pack.”
The federal government made changes to the program last April in a bid to address labour shortage concerns.
- Posters promoting ‘Steal From Loblaws Day’ are circulating. How did we get here?
- Canadian food banks are on the brink: ‘This is not a sustainable situation’
- Is home ownership only for the rich now? 80% say yes in new poll
- Investing tax refunds is low priority for Canadians amid high cost of living: poll
The length of time an LMIA is valid has been doubled from nine to 18 months, and high-need sectors like the food service industry are being permitted to hire up to 30 per cent of their workforce from overseas.
In a statement, B.C.’s Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation said it had increased funding to the Employment Standards Branch by $12 million to hire 33 more workers whose duties will include processing registrations for employers seeking to hire temporary foreign workers.
Those measures, however, won’t help Ng, who said the decision to close Daisy Garden is final.
“I really hope someone can run it successfully and serve the community and Chinatown,” she said.
“I hope Chinatown will get booming again.”
Comments