Popular B.C. ski resorts implement vaccine mandates for staff

NORTH VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The goal is straightforward — to keep everyone safe. Some of B.C.’s most popular ski hills are being blunt with their staff as preparations intensifying for the upcoming season.

Grouse Mountain, Whistler Blackcomb and Big White Ski Resort have ushered in vaccine mandates for their employees.

Ahead of the season, @grousemountain, @WhistlerBlckcmb and @BigWhite have implemented vaccine mandates for staff. Some could be terminated if they don’t have a valid reason not to get it. @Cypressmtn hasn’t finalized anything yet and @Mt_Seymour hopes to have a plan by next week.

— Sonia Aslam (@SoniaSAslam) October 12, 2021

“Grouse Mountain has adopted a Mandatory COVID-19 Staff Vaccination Policy for the 2021/22 winter season. Staff must provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 by November 27, 2021. Failure to provide proof of vaccination or a recognized validation of an exemption will result in a temporary layoff until the employee is fully vaccinated or the policy is rescinded,” says Grouse in a statement to NEWS 1130.

“All active and newly hired employees must have completed their COVID-19 vaccination regimen (1 of 1 dose or 2 of 2 doses) or have an approved legal accommodation by Nov. 15. Employees who start work after Nov. 15 will have to provide proof of vaccination before their first day of work. Employees will not be able to start working until they provide proof they have completed their COVID-19 vaccination regimen (1 of 1 dose or 2 of 2 doses).

“This expectation for a COVID-19 vaccination is a condition of employment and will be considered cause for termination if an employee does not comply,” says Vail Resorts, which owns Whistler Blackcomb.

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Michael J. Ballingall with Big White, which was the site of a large outbreak earlier in the pandemic, says no one is really pushing back against their mandate.

However, he admits three people have left because they weren’t going to get vaccinated.

“We really believe, very strongly, that it’s our place to make sure people feel safe.

“There will always be a place in our system for those that aren’t vaccinated to be able to access, but for the majority, the ease of access will be much easier because of the vaccine passport in places they can know to go where it’ll be safe and it won’t be on their mind.”

He’s not worried if others choose to leave their post over this, pointing out, they’re hiring a lot of people for the upcoming season and word has spread the mandate is part of the job requirement.

“People want to come and work in the mountains and live in the mountains for the lifestyle experience. If being safe by being double vaccinated is part of that goal of getting a job in the mountains then they’re happy to do that.

“These people are between the ages of 19-30, they’re living in staff accommodations that they want to live in. They want to be part of that group housing experience and when they know everybody vaccinated and everybody in their system, everybody that they’re seeing … work colleagues are all vaccinated as well, it gives them a peace of mind. It also gives us a big peace of mind that we, hopefully, won’t have to manage another outbreak in the resort this year.”

Vaccines is one part of the upcoming season — Ballingall is also shedding light on the staff crunch facing pretty much every industry right now.

He says they’re hiring hundreds of people and are hoping some Australians who were stuck here during the off-season can get their work visa working again.

“Our Australian staff are not in the country. Those that are in the country, their visas have run out. We’re working with the provincial tourism authorities and the Government of Canada to try and see if we can turn these visa’s can back on. The industry is short-staffed, everyone literally in Canada is short-staffed, so if we can get the people that are stuck in the country, if we can get their visa’s turned back on, this would alleviate a lot of the stress in ski resorts right now because there’s just not enough Canadians to teach skiing, flip burgers, make beds, groom the slopes, drive shuttle buses and load the lifts.”

Ballingall hopes for a better financial ski season this year, adding the Lower Mainland is their biggest market in the world as people from the UK, Netherlands, Germany and Australia inquire about bookings.