Canada's Hotels and Tourism HR Canada Applaud New Program Connecting Newcomers to Hotel Jobs

OTTAWA, June 20, 2018 /CNW/ - Today on World Refugee Day, the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), together with Tourism HR Canada, applauded the federal government for launching the Employing Newcomers in Canadian Hotels Pilot Project. This three-year pilot program will see nearly $7 million dedicated by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to connect newcomers to Canada with jobs in the hotel industry in 5 regions across the country.

"We are delighted to partner with the Government of Canada and Tourism HR Canada on this exciting program that will help people new to Canada join our industry," said Susie Grynol, President of the HAC. "This is a win-win for newcomers and hoteliers. Those employed through the program will have an opportunity to obtain work experience that will help them develop critical skills as well as room to grow, while Canadian hotels can address job vacancies."

This pilot program is one of the first through IRCC's $32 million dedicated funding stream for service delivery improvements and innovations made under the government's settlement program. This initiative will assist up to 1,300 unemployed or underemployed newcomers to secure a range of hotel jobs, including both entry level and management positions.  

Tourism HR Canada President Philip Mondor sees this initiative as the right fit at the right time. "The innovative model we'll be deploying for this initiative targets key challenges faced by both employers and new employees. A common challenge often referenced by employers is that newcomers often do not possess the language skill level necessary to properly engage in the training, and other onboarding activities they will be subject to. This project addresses that issue head-on, providing contextualized language skill training is a core component of the model being implemented," states Mondor.

More than 10% of tourism jobs go unfilled because of labour market issues. Projections show that demand for workers will exceed supply for the majority of occupations in the accommodations industry, from frontline positions to supervisors and managers. The tourism industry is a powerful economic driver across Canada, representing $41.2 billion of Canada's GDP in 2017. This new program will help to rebuild lost economic opportunity from unfilled jobs.

"The advantage of working in hotels is more than just the simple fact that jobs are available. Hotel jobs are a springboard to build a lifelong and fulfilling career," concluded Grynol. "Hotels offer a variety of positions, strong upward mobility, training and investment in employees.  When you work in a hotel you quickly improve language and customer service skills and learn cultural nuances. There is no better place to cultivate these skills than working in a hotel environment."

The HAC and Tourism HR Canada will be hosting a teleconference for media on this announcement on June 20th at 2pm EDT.

Dial-in: (+1) 888 390 0546

Conference ID: 70804561

The Hotel Association of Canada is the leading voice of the Canadian hotel and lodging industry. For over 100 years, it has worked to enhance the prosperity of the industry through strong member engagement, effective advocacy, and the provision of value-added programs and services. The Hotel Association represents more than 8,226 hotels, motels and resorts that encompass the $19.2 billion Canadian hotel industry which employs 304,000 people across Canada.

Tourism HR Canada is a pan-Canadian organization with a mandate aimed at "building a world-leading tourism workforce". Tourism Canada works on behalf of the 1.8 million people employed in the sector to facilitate, coordinate and enable human resource development activities which support a globally competitive and sustainable industry and foster the development of a dynamic and resilient workforce.

SOURCE Hotel Association of Canada