Good afternoon. Mr. Chair and fellow committee members, thank you for the opportunity to participate in today's committee's meeting. It's my pleasure to present to you this afternoon.
Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador is the tourism industry association for the province, and represents tourism and hospitality operators throughout the province in all sectors. As well, Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador represents its members on provincial and national tourism bodies, such as Tourism HR Canada. The mandate of Hospitality NL includes the responsibility to support the development of a professional workforce and improve the quality and market readiness of the tourism industry.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are nearly 2,600 tourism businesses, primarily small and medium-sized, that support the needs of a growing economy by providing the foundation of services and attractions that municipalities and businesses need to grow, attract workers, and leverage private investment, thereby supporting sustainable and viable communities in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The tourism industry is growing and is one of the most stable revenue-generating industries in the province. Generating more than $1 billion in annual spending, tourism offers a renewable resource and accounts for 8% of all provincial jobs—full-time, part-time, and seasonal opportunities. Currently the industry supports over 18,000 jobs in the province.
Tourism, like other industries, is experiencing a labour shortage and increasingly stiff competition for workers. In today's service-oriented economies, small businesses are providing the bulk of growth. The fact that approximately 80% of all tourism businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador are small, with fewer than 20 employees, is indicative of the industry's appeal to entrepreneurs, and offers attractive business opportunities to immigrants for cultural diversification and enrichment. Welcoming such diversity encourages immigrants to practise unique customs while still thriving as a citizen, resulting in increased immigration retention levels and community growth.
The projected labour shortages in the tourism sector are caused by rising demand for labour during a period when Newfoundland and Labrador's labour force is expected to experience a sizeable shift in its growth and composition. Traditionally, the tourism sector has relied heavily on young people as a source of labour. However, the rate at which young people are entering the labour force is decreasing while competition to attract younger workers is intensifying from other sectors of the economy. The industry will experience a shortage of people, in general, to fill positions, and a much more pronounced deficiency in skilled workers to fill positions.
In 2016, research conducted by Tourism HR Canada and the Conference Board of Canada projected that by 2035 potential labour shortages in the tourism sector in Newfoundland and Labrador could reach 15.2%, leaving over 3,000 jobs unfilled. Current projections suggest the tourism sector could potentially support more jobs than workers will be available to fill. This means Newfoundland and Labrador will experience one of the most acute labour shortages in tourism in Canada.
We know that if nothing is done to increase labour supply, the shortfall in revenue to the tourism sector in Canada by 2035 will be estimated at $27.5 billion. The economic and social impact of these shortages of skilled labour will hamper growth, decrease investment in the sector, cause higher operating costs, reduce profits, erode the sector's ability to compete, and cause inferior customer service.
The goal of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador and Tourism HR Canada is to hire Canadians first. We are working with partners to support and engage non-traditional labour pools to integrate them into the workforce. The focus will be on placing and providing programs and supports to support youth, aboriginals, and people with disabilities to find work in the tourism industry, but based on the research, we know that these initiatives will not be enough, and we'll have to look to immigration to fill these skill gaps.
Immigrants will fill jobs that Canadians are not willing or able to fill. The importance of immigration to economic growth cannot be overstated, and it is as important to tourism as to any other industry, with almost a quarter of tourism workers being immigrants, including 40% of all chefs.
The immigration pathways are too narrowly focused on NOC A, B, and O categories. Regardless of the totals, individuals with experience and skills in all categories are needed, with perhaps even a greater demand existing among those not currently well represented. Immigrants meeting unfilled job demands and possessing transferable skills, in other words, those outside of NOC A, B, and O categories, must be included among the recruitment mix for immigration programs.
Future program planning and policies must focus on jobs in demand for both current and projected needs over the next decade. Many occupations in tourism fall in the NOC C and D categories and are therefore considered unskilled. While many are low entry in terms of formal educational requirements, the level of knowledge of the environment, safety, communication skills, etc., is quite demanding, and such low-skilled jobs are essential to economic growth. For example, hotels require managers and marketing specialists, but cannot successfully operate without cleaners, servers, and maintenance workers. As advanced economies create highly skilled jobs, they also create the demand and need for more low-skilled jobs.
Public policy should focus resources on continued professional development opportunities, particularly education and training offered by professional associations, which are able to respond to labour market demands and employment needs more readily. Efforts such as the immigration pilot under the Atlantic growth strategy can help change this. Tourism businesses in Newfoundland and Labrador have engaged in this pilot. Currently there are 48 businesses in the process of becoming designated employers, most of them in the food service sector.
Enhanced programming for businesses to permanently hire foreign workers if they can't find Canadians to fill the jobs must be a priority. Enabling foreign-trained workers the right to access permanent residency is good policy. This should be in addition to existing provincial nominee programs that meet labour needs. Permanent residency will enable Canada to be more competitive in attracting qualified applicants from other countries.
Continued support for organizations that assist refugees and immigrants, particularly on the education, training, and employment services front, is required, as are strengthened links to organizations and businesses that can help new Canadians enter the workforce. To grow our provincial population and achieve long-term social and economic success, efforts are required to embrace initiatives and industries that contribute to quality of life, offer family-friendly employment opportunities, and support economic diversification and growth throughout Newfoundland and Labrador and the rest of Atlantic Canada.
The tourism industry offers such opportunities and benefits. Tourism offers gainful, flexible employment and entrepreneurship opportunities throughout all areas of Atlantic Canada that are appealing to residents, expatriates, and immigrants—