Banff hotels, ski resorts hope wage hike woos workers

Banff ski resorts hope a lift in the province’s minimum wage will help address a chronic staff shortage.

On Thursday, those ski hills and hotels including the Fairmont Banff Springs are hosting a job fair aimed at attracting at least 200 workers to the mountains.

The hike in Alberta’s minimum wage from $13.60 to $15 on Oct. 1 was well timed to fill a labour gap that often exceeds 10 per cent of need, said Michel Dufresne, director of the Job Resource Centre.

“Now that it’s the highest minimum wage in Canada, we’re hoping it’ll attract more people in Canada,” said Dufresne.

“We pay better than Mont-Tremblant (in Quebec) and Whistler, so maybe we can get more people here. We use it as a marketing tool.”

That wage change likely won’t have much impact among those from other countries, who make up a big portion of Banff hospitality staff, he said.

Service staff in the Banff area are typically paid $1 or $2 above minimum wage, said Dufresne.

But the area’s cost of living is high, resulting in the need for employers to provide staff lodging that’s often subsidized, he said.

“If I don’t have accommodations for my employees, I don’t have employees,” said Dufresne.

In Banff, lodging is provided 50 per cent of the time — in Canmore, it’s 25 per cent — in what’s become a key component in hiring competitiveness, he said.

Even so, some of those workers drift away by mid-January, leaving vacancies that are tough to fill, said Dufresne.

Among positions in most demand are ski instructors and kitchen staff.

“There’s big ski schools and big kitchens — everyone eats when they go skiing,” he said.

Also needed are chair lift attendants, bus drivers, guest service agents and room service staff.

Banff employers have already made hiring trips to Europe and Australia, which typically supply considerable numbers of young workers hoping to work and ski, said Dufresne.

An exchange program between Canada and Australia draws 2,000 people Down Under, half of them landing in Banff-Canmore, he said. Workers also come from Europe, Germany and the U.K.

Staffing at Sunshine Village balloons from 260 in summer to 900 in the winter, said spokeswoman Kendra Scurfield.

“We’re looking for people with a second language. We saw a huge spike of visitors from Mexico last year,” she said.

Last year, the job fair attracted a record 800 people.

The event is being held Thursday at the Cascade Shops, 317 Banff Ave., from 1 to 4 p.m.