I apologize for that misunderstanding, but I've never been to one of these forums. I also have to apologize for my husband, Rémi. He intended to be here, but we are talking about a labour shortage today, and since this is a statutory holiday week, unfortunately he's doing bread this morning.
I'm not here on behalf of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. I am on the board of directors of that association, and I know you have received their submission. It has some strong recommendations that I wholeheartedly endorse. However, I am here on behalf of myself and my husband as small independent operators and owners of Calories Bakery & Restaurant on Broadway Avenue here in Saskatoon. It is a 20-year established restaurant and we have 35-plus employees, at least 20 of whom are full-time.
I don't believe that my fellow small local operators in the industry have any idea of the size of the crisis that's looming ahead. I perceive that many are still in growth mode. I was at a local business forum just recently with lots of restauranteurs from our street, and they're starting to feel it, but they aren't in tune with the statistics. I've seen the statistics, so I'm acutely aware of what we're facing and what's ahead. As such, our company has chosen to delay an expansion that we had intended to pursue. We want to wait to see if we can stabilize our problem at our existing location.
When I first heard about this looming labour crisis last spring, I thought, “Oh, we won't see it in Saskatchewan for a long time. We certainly won't see it in our business for a long time. Our staff is like family. Many have been with us for years and years.” But that's not the case. As of August, we've felt an incredible difference, and it's across the board. We're talking about qualified workers and entry-level workers. We're seeing it in the front of the house and the back of the house.
We're already starting to struggle, and I really fear for the future and for the future of our industry. We can't compete with wages that are being offered in Alberta. We can't compete with the oil patch. We can only work ourselves, with our managers who choose to stay on with us in Saskatchewan and Saskatoon. It's so hard. I fear for the health implications in the future as we and our managers are required to take on more and more.
We've started to spend months recruiting. We've never seen that before. We just can't replace the workers who are moving on. Last summer we lost a qualified baker to the oil patch. We can't hire dishwashers. The kids these days just aren't really interested in that kind of work. We've looked at working with disabled workers and trying to train them, but there's an incredible lack of support. There are small programs for that, but they're just not enough.
I know that CRSA is advocating an increase in immigration and temporary work visas. That has been their approach, but I don't think that's the solution for Saskatchewan. We have a huge workforce here that's not being used to its full capacity. We have an aboriginal community that needs to come into the fold. There's huge potential to train and integrate these people into our industry.
There needs to be a fundamental shift in the EI and the social assistance programs. They need to become top-up systems rather than clawback systems. Rather than penalizing workers for getting back into the workforce, or changing from a higher-paying job to a lower-paying job, if we change the system so we are topping up their wages rather than clawing them back, that would make a huge difference.
We need to adapt to the new workplace and the new workforce, have better worker mobility, and use older workers if they want to work in our industry, without having it affect their pensions if they work part-time and things like that.
The point my husband wanted to make is that we are a teaching kitchen. We train staff, but no benefits ever accrue to us. There is no room for our current apprentice at the local technical college because they haven't increased their program to offer more spots. If you can believe it, we have an industry in crisis and they're turning away people who want to enter the cooking program. She has chosen to challenge her exam, knowing that Rémi has had at least five cooks that have challenged, and one received the highest marks in the province. But absolutely nothing accrues back to us as business owners, as we take the time and effort to train these people to help our industry survive and move forward.
I would like to see programs for mentorship, better tax benefits for us as we train these workers--something that acknowledges our work and effort.
I think I have covered everything. I just wanted to state the small operator's opinion. I don't represent everyone, but these are all important issues that need to be considered, and I really do fear for where we're headed.
Thank you.