Le Lézard
Classified in: Covid-19 virus
Subject: MISCELLANEOUS

Alberta's restaurants need a sector-specific survival package to bring back 52,500 jobs


EDMONTON, Alberta, May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Restaurants Canada is calling for a sector-specific support package to recover more than 400,000 foodservice jobs ? including 52,500 jobs still missing from Alberta's restaurant sector.

"Restaurants are key to feeding Alberta's recovery and bringing back jobs, but first they need to survive," said Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Western Canada. "If subsidies are scaled back too soon, they won't have the working capital they need to transition from survival to revival."

Restaurants account for most of Canada's pandemic employment gap

According to the April Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, more than two thirds (70.9%) of the 503,000 jobs still missing from the Canadian economy in the wake of COVID-19 are from the foodservice sector.

Factoring in the 80,700 employees who didn't work any hours last month, there are still 437,500 fewer people working in Canada's foodservice sector than there were in February 2020. This includes 52,500 restaurant jobs still not recovered in Alberta ? a third of the province's foodservice workforce.

With a number of provinces prolonging or increasing dining restrictions as they continue to contend with the third wave of the pandemic, further foodservice job losses will likely be reported in May.

Half of restaurants face risk of closure if subsidies are scaled back too soon

"The vast majority of foodservice businesses have been operating at a loss or barely breaking even throughout the entire pandemic, with nearly half consistently losing money for more than a year," said von Schellwitz. "They have been counting on the rent and wage subsidies to be the bridge they need to stay alive until dining restrictions are lifted and they can truly start to recover without the help of emergency support."

According to the latest survey data from Restaurants Canada:

"If restaurants are forced to contend with less and less from the critical wage and rent subsidies before they're able to operate without them, many will have to give up and close their businesses down for good," said von Schellwitz.

Restaurants Canada is calling on the federal government to immediately introduce a sector-specific Restaurant Survival Support Package containing the following measures:

About Restaurants Canada

Restaurants Canada is a national, not-for-profit association advancing the potential of Canada's diverse and dynamic foodservice industry through member programs, research, advocacy, resources and events. Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alberta's $12 billion restaurant industry was the province's third-largest source of private sector jobs, typically employing 148,000 people.



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