InnFocus Fall 2022

y Ingrid Jarrett, President & CEO
At the beginning of Summer, the Federal
Minister of Tourism, Randy Boissonnault,
reached out to our industry leaders and
operators across the country, seeking
feedback to help develop a submission for the
Federal Growth Strategy. We worked with our
partners at the Hotel Association of Canada,
the Tourism Industry Association of Canada,
and members of the Hardest Hit Coalition, to
align our sector and clearly prioritize its needs.
We identified four priority pillars in our
submission:
• Attract and retain a sustainable hospitality
and tourism workforce
• Develop and promote hospitality and
tourism assets
• Improve access for visitors to and within
Canada
• Build a regenerative and inclusive tourism
industry
This was a significant opportunity to provide
specific asset development recommendations,
to advise on required policy changes in multiple
ministries, and ensure specific immigration
and training is supported across the country.
Additionally, it was important to showcase
our industry as a healthy, stable, and growing
sector with investment recommendations that
are foundational to capturing demand and
cementing our nation’s position as a leading
tourism destination on the global stage.
On a provincial level, I recently presented to
the Standing Committee on Finance, which
was an opportunity to help guide the priorities
of government for Budget 2023. Recognizing
the critical need for the sustainable growth
of tourism, our first recommendation was to
align our industry and our GoGreen program
with the climate action goals of our province.
The second recommendation surrounded
our workforce shortage and our urgent need
to expand immigration eligibility to attract
highly-trained hospitality workers from outside
of Canada. Finally, we also highlighted the
necessity for government to return to prepandemic
meetings and travel.
To expand on our advocacy priorities, we
have also been actively pursuing initiatives in
support of affordable housing, as the lack of
housing for employees is crippling our industry.
Of course, coupled with this, is the work we are
leading on the short-term rental file, which has
negative implications on livability, affordability,
and taxes for our province. We are pleased to
be working with experts and industry partners
across Canada that have been critical to
developing our strategic approach, which we
are confident will result in a positive outcome
for our sector.
Similarly, we have a team addressing the
workforce shortage at the provincial and
federal level. We have signed agreements with
the Consulate of Barbados and the Consulate
of El Salvador to fast track visas, allowing
swifter access to foreign workers. We also
have sought a revision to the PNP program,
to ensure expanded eligibility for hospitality
workers. Additionally, we are aligned with
Tourism HR Canada and the Hotel Association
of Canada on their efforts to have a hospitality
immigration stream to support our industry at
the federal level. As we have begun to witness
our sector bounce back to pre-pandemic
occupancy levels, we know the work around
workforce is essential for our members.
Beyond our workforce crisis, there remain
significant pandemic-related obstacles for
accommodators and travellers alike: airline,
testing and border confusion; the potential
of yet another wave with respiratory season
upon us; inflation; high gas prices; and more.
These challenges are not easy to fix, but with
the strong partners we have both federally and
provincially, we will certainly address each of
the issues to the best of our ability.
On a more promising note, we have been
celebrating the return of large sporting events
in BC, with successful hosting bids for the
upcoming FIFA World Cup, Invictus Games,
and Levar Cup. Additionally, there has been
significant momentum surrounding the
historic Indigenous-led 2030 Olympic Winter
Games bid, which is well on its way from a
planning and partnership perspective. Each
of these large-scale events pose an enormous
opportunity to showcase our province to
the world and grow tourism revenue far into
the future. And after years of witnessing our
events’ sector struggle, we couldn’t be more
elated over these positive developments. As
your industry association, we are committed
to ensuring that there will be more positive
developments to come.
4 InnFocus