By opening up a new immigration stream on March 1, Alberta’s government took a big step toward helping its tourism and hospitality business deal with problems like a lack of workers.
Alberta’s tourism and hospitality industry is a key driver of economic growth, especially in rural areas and smaller towns. Visitors come from all over the world to enjoy Alberta’s unique adventures and friendly people.
Alberta saw a big rise in tourism spending in 2022, when it reached $10.7 billion, up $600 million from the previous year. This comeback not only means that the province has fully recovered from the pandemic-related downturn, but it also puts it in a position to break records for tourist spending. Alberta has started the Tourism and Hospitality Stream as part of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program to keep the growth going and deal with a lack of workers.
The Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism, Muhammad Yaseen, stresses how important it is to address concerns in the business world about ongoing labor shortages, pointing out that the new stream is a direct answer to these issues.
President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Alberta, Darren Reeder, talks about how important the tourism and hotel industry is to the province’s economy. He thinks that the Tourism Hospitality Stream is an important step toward creating a skilled staff that can meet the needs of travelers from around the world.
The Alberta Advantage Immigration Program is the province’s economic immigration program. Its goal is to bring in and keep skilled workers and business owners. Alberta uses this program to find skilled people to fill open jobs, which helps the job market by filling holes and problems.
Through the Tourism and Hospitality Stream, people who have worked in tourism or hospitality for at least six months can become permanent residents of Alberta. Minister of Tourism and Sport Joseph Schow stresses how important it is to keep the tourism business growing by hiring skilled people.
Mark von Schellwitz, Vice President of Western Canada for Restaurants Canada, and Tracy Douglas-Bloers, President and CEO of the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association, both support the dedicated immigration stream. They say it will help with labor shortages and the recovery and growth of their respective industries.
People who want to apply for the Tourism and Hospitality Stream must have a valid full-time, non-seasonal job offer from an approved company in the field. In 2022, 32 million people visited Alberta, bringing in a lot of money and creating tens of thousands of jobs. The program aims to take advantage of this strong tourist economy.
By starting the Tourism and Hospitality Stream, Alberta shows that it wants to support a strong tourism and hospitality industry, which will help it continue to grow and be competitive on the world stage. As tourism in Canada changes, programs like these are very important for making the most of the industry’s full potential and helping the province’s economy grow.
