Setting up for Success: Kick-Off Meeting for Hotel Jobs Initiative

Delivery partners met in Ottawa this week to kick-off the recently announced Employing Newcomers in Canadian Hotels Pilot Project, an exciting initiative to provide career opportunities for newcomers to Canada with hotel jobs in participating regions.

This initiative will provide hotels with the qualified staff they require to meet demand and provide participants with an opportunity to get their foot in the door of an industry that continues to grow more quickly than the overall economy.

The pilot program, funded nationally by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), will be deployed in five regions in the first year of the rollout.

The planning session included representatives from project co-leads the Hotel Association of Canada and Tourism HR Canada, as well as delivery partners representing Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association, Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association, Saskatchewan Tourism Education Council (a department of Tourism Saskatchewan), Ontario Tourism Education Corporation, Yukon Tourism Education Council, and Nova Scotia Tourism Human Resource Council.

The group worked through an aggressive agenda focused on all facets of this pilot. Participants broke into working groups to address specifics like process mapping, program risks, and diagnostic tool needs, as well as to examine existing resources that can be employed and identify new tools that will be required. They also compiled FAQs for all stakeholder groups.

Over the next six weeks, the group will collectively and individually address action items and outcomes from this meeting to prepare for the rollout and administration of the program this coming fall.

While this pilot is initially taking place in specific locations, we will be looking for opportunities to scale up and have additional locations able to offer the program in years two and three, should budgets allow.

The goal is to demonstrate the viability of a sustainable model by showing real, meaningful impact on the lives of participants and the labour struggles faced by many operators. With success, we are hopeful that additional funds, both provincial and federal, will expand the scope and reach of the program.

Stay tuned to HR Insider to keep apprised of project updates and success stories.

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