B.C. restaurants facing staffing shortages as busy summer looms

As we continue on our path to post-pandemic life, many industries continue to struggle with staffing shortages.

B.C.’s restaurants are among those dealing with a staffing crunch and there’s an urgent appeal right now for help.

According to the BC Restaurant and Foodservices Association, of the 15,000 restaurants in B.C., there are currently 190,000 people working in various roles. It notes there’s a need to hire up to 40,000 more staffers.

“It’s incredibly tough out there and certainly the worst time in our history,” said Kelly Gordon, owner of Romer’s Burger Bar.

He admits his restaurants, of which there are various locations in Metro Vancouver, have very few servers right now. However, he says he’d rather have that issue than the one his industry faced over the course of the pandemic, when eateries were shuttered to in-person dining due to the spread of COVID-19.

“We have very busy restaurants. People are back, it’s back to 2019 levels, so the volume is definitely there. Hopefully we start to see those bodies come back and join us on the serving tables,” Gordon explained.

“We’re in the restaurant business — we’re always worried. It’s been a tough couple of years but the good news in this story is that people are back and visiting restaurants. I’d much rather figure out ways to attract staff than look at empty seats.”

He tells CityNews there’s usually a spike in people looking for work this time of year, when post-secondary institutions end their semesters, but that isn’t happening right now and the need is dire.

“The combination of what we pay and tips certainly make it a pretty lucrative job but we just haven’t seen that group of people appear yet. It’s early in the year, we haven’t seen much sunshine but at this point it’s pretty lean.”

Gordon says the lack of sunshine this spring also means people aren’t sitting on the patio, which for many restaurants is a money-maker.

“Remember this time last year, we’d already had a good six weeks of patio experiences and it just hasn’t happened. We’re still able to function pretty well at this point in time, we are just nervous when we get that boost of sales volumes coming from patios and we need extra servers and extra people in the kitchen along the way.”

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He adds they need to hire about 40 to 50 people but are not doing anything drastic right now to attract workers.

While Romer’s is getting by, other restaurants are being forced to make difficult decisions in the face of this staffing shortage.

The owners of Afghan Kitchen, which has locations in Vancouver and South Surrey, tells CityNews things are so bad right now that they’re forced to close for an extra day in the week. They also can’t open for lunch. They add they aren’t seeing people apply for the jobs they do have available.

Up the Sea to Sky, those behind Elements Urban Tapas Parlour in Whistler say they’re also dealing with a slight shortage right now and are worried about how they’re going to handle what could be busy summer season.

Staffing challenges are nothing new to the industry in recent years. Last fall, the Alliance of Beverage Licensees told CityNews businesses were short tens of thousands of workers.

Patrons are being asked to be patient, with some warning there may be longer waits for service.

According to the BCRFA, restaurants were closed to in-person dining for 117 days during the pandemic.

Patio season in Vancouver

Gordon mentioned the need for a robust patio season and good weather to really help boost the bottom line of restaurants but some applications in the City of Vancouver still haven’t been approved.

As of now, the city says it has received 278 applications from businesses wanting summer patio permits.

“At this time, 109 summer patio permits have been issued and 40 permits are ready for issuance, awaiting final documents or payment from the applicants. A significant portion of the 64 remaining applications were submitted as incomplete. City staff are working with these applicants to gather all outstanding documentation to complete the applications for city review,” said Director of Public Space and Street Use Lisa Parker.

“Applications for summer patios located on arterials and major bus routes, require additional engineering reviews for traffic management and safety. In some cases, the patios require protection by concrete barriers (‘tapers’) or other safety features to protect from vehicle traffic. Of the remaining applications still in process, 36 proposed patio locations require these arterial road traffic safety measures and staff are working with these applicants to coordinate installation, which is underway and will continue throughout May. Permits are not issued in advance to ensure public safety.”

The patio application process started in March. Since April 1, the city says it has renewed 242 permits.