It’s no secret that the tourism and hospitality sector had its fair share of lows during the pandemic. In the years following, resorts, local businesses, and governments alike hoped things would return to normal. But for hospitality workers who had to contend with lockdown-era closures, the industry isn’t as stable as it once was.
In Ontario cottage country, experts say that a steady exodus of hospitality and tourism workers has the potential to change the region’s tourism landscape.
“It hasn’t come back to even a comparable pre-pandemic normal in the hospitality industry, whereas other frontline industries have adapted,” says Richard Eberhardt, a union representative for United Food and Commercial Workers who works with hospitality workers in cottage country.
A lack of change from the industry—in raising wages, increasing benefits, and implementing enticing strategies to retain workers—could be driving high employee turnover, says Eberhardt.
“Most of these employers have seen almost their entire staff turnover or partially turnover since the pandemic,” he adds. “The industry hasn’t adjusted its strategies to keep people who are doing a good job, so these people will find other places to work.”
Working conditions need to change to retain permanent employees, say experts
As tourists filter out of cottage country in late summer, so do the seasonal employees that work at resorts and other local businesses. In some respects, that’s the nature of the business. But as they head home, many year-round workers remain.
Mike De Rose, the president of the North Simcoe Muskoka and District Labour Council, says that tourism organizations are having trouble retaining these employees.
“The hospitality tourism sector is competing with jobs that are more stable and less precarious,” says De Rose. “If I can make the same amount at Shoppers Drug Mart as I can at a resort and stay on after Labour Day, why wouldn’t I?”
So, what’s driving hospitality workers away?
“From what I see, these companies are still looking at the red ink on their pages from a period that was very difficult in the industry, and they’re still trying to recuperate from that hit,” says Eberhardt. “The thing is that workers are too.”
“It ceases to be an attractive option for those who live and work in these areas,” says Eberhardt. “It further leaches committed workers from the system.”
Since many workers are getting pushed out, a lot of these businesses are relying on temporary foreign workers and, in particular, international students. These employees fill the seasonal gap, but Ederhardt says they have their own challenges. “They can be taken advantage of in terms of workload and workplace rights,” he says. “The more turnover you have, the less stability you have in the workplace.”
Rising housing costs prevent employees from working where they live
At the intersection of rising housing costs and wages that aren’t rising at par, experts say that it’s becoming increasingly challenging for people to live where they work.
“Regions like Muskoka are having a terrible challenge in that there’s no affordable housing,” says Hilary Chambers, the owner of Pine Grove Resort in Port Loring, Ont., and the chair of a regional board of Explorers’ Edge, a government-funded tourism organization that works to increase tourism across the province.
Last year, Explorers’ Edge partnered with the Town of Huntsville to develop a “catalyst housing” project. The initiative, which is still in development, provides housing to hospitality workers to encourage them to move to the area.
“With affordable and attainable housing, the tourism and hospitality industry will be able to fill the labour gaps that currently exist,” reads a 2023 report from the town. “The combination of low-paying positions and a gentrified housing market has widened the gap between tourism industry work and home ownership.”
Chambers says that the rise of short-term rental properties in cottage country has compounded the challenges. “Airbnbs can pay cleaners more money than they would earn at a resort,” she says. “The resorts have to pay dramatically more to those employees than they would have pre-pandemic.”
In Chambers’ experience—she has been a part of her family’s resort business her entire life—paying employees living wages and creating good working conditions encourages workers to stay on with them.
“If you give employees a sense of ownership in the business and their career, they feel a lot more connected to the success of the business,” she says.
And while smaller businesses, such as Pine Groves, work with local workers, other businesses who are slower to adapt could leave a lasting impact on tourism in the region.
“The experience of travelling to these places isn’t just about the natural beauty of the region, it’s also about well-staffed, well-running regions,” says Ederhardt. “If we can’t get this back on track, then I think you’ll see the impact on demand for tourism here.”
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