ALBERTA (CANADA) TOURIST TOWNS STRUGGLE WITH STAFF SHORTAGES AS RESTRICTIONS EASE

By Chandrayee Roy Choudhury, Canada: Even with COVID-19 restrictions easing in Alberta and abroad, the province's tourist towns are struggling to attract international workers. 



The Job Resource Centre, which operates in Banff and Canmore, is putting up postings and "getting zero response," said its director, Michel Dufresne. 



Prior to March 2020, on a good day the job centre might see 50 to 100 clients, Dufresne said. But now a good day is about 10 people.  

Hotel, retail, restaurant, sightseeing and ski resorts in towns like Banff and Canmore rely heavily on foreign workers, he said, and pre-pandemic they made up nearly half their workforce. 



He said people in those types of organizations are planning for the summer — when huge volumes of tourists arrive — and they're worried.



"What we used to call a staff shortage that's common here in Banff and Canmore …right now it's not a shortage anymore, it's a drought. It's a staff drought," he said.