As 2016 comes to a close, Jasper’s business community is already feeling the financial pinch from the province’s plan to hike the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018.
At an employer-networking meeting hosted by the Jasper Adult Learning Centre on Nov. 2, the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) and Mountain Park Lodges (MPL) both confirmed the wage increase will have a significant impact on their bottom line.
“Alberta’s minimum wage increase does have an impact on Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, however, we have a competitive wage structure already and are addressing further changes in line with the government’s policy over the next few years,” wrote Teresa Marshall, public relations manager for the hotel.
MPL declined to comment.
On Oct. 1 the province increased the minimum wage to $12.20 per hour and plans to hike the minimum wage to $13.60 an hour on Oct. 1, 2017, before it rises to $15 an hour in 2018.
Ginette Marcoux, executive director of the Jasper Adult Learning Centre, said she’s curious to see how employers will respond.
“I’m really curious how employers and businesses will absorb that extra cost,” said Marcoux “Where is this money going to come from?
“It will be interesting to see what will get squeezed out of workplaces.”
Pattie Pavlov, general manager of the Jasper Park Chamber of Commerce, said the issue is also a concern for local retailers and restaurants.
“On top of wage increases we’re also looking at constant raising of commercial taxes to pay for everything that needs to be supported in the community,” said Pavlov, referring to the proposed 3.01 tax increase for Jasper’s 2017 operating budget. “But what it boils down to is our visitation numbers are growing and we need workers.”
However, attracting and keeping workers has also been a problem plaguing Jasper for years.
At the Nov. 2 employer-networking meeting, MPL and JPL both reported experiencing a 20-per-cent employee turnover rate this summer. MPL highlighted a 50-per-cent turnover rate of housekeepers for the same period.
“This isn’t anything new for Jasper. I think it’s just the nature of the industry,” Marcoux said, adding that the hospitality sector is one of the lowest paid in Canada.
“Housekeeping is not an easy job by any means. And when times are good and there are better paying jobs then people start leaving, putting a huge pressure on the hospitality industry.”
While Pavlov said she doesn’t have turnover statistics for the Chamber’s members, she did say employee retention issues have been discussed many times during the last several years.
In theory, Marcoux said the increase in minimum wage should help with retention problems, but she has her doubts.
“Fifteen dollars an hour was always considered a living wage and people could afford to stay in their jobs a bit longer, but in Jasper $15 an hour is not a huge amount of money considering the cost of living here,” she said, adding that the town’s housing shortage is also problematic.
“Most of the time, if you can find a place it’s completely unrealistic and unaffordable, and that makes it hard to attract young professionals. Until the housing problem is fixed I don’t see how we can resolve this problem.”
The lack of stable newcomers often has Jasper’s businesses turning to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. However, due to changes during the past few years Marcoux said the program isn’t as viable as it once was.
“More employers are really pushing for temporary foreign workers and that works for a while, but when people start getting permanent residence then they start leaving,” she said. “They have long-term goals. They want to become Canadian and they want to bring their families here.”
Pavlov added that the chamber has been working with the provincial and federal governments to address issues like the TFW program, Jasper’s housing woes and retention problems.
The Chamber has also been pushing for Jasper to receive resort status in recognition of Jasper’s unique needs as a competitive tourist town, bearing the infrastructure burdens of hosting millions of visitors each year.
“These are all things that are a part of the attraction-and-retention puzzle. For lack of a better way to put it—this is a puzzle because there are so many parts that need to be addressed,” she said,. “But all of these concerns are not new to Jasper by any means.”
In the New Year, Pavlov said members of the Chamber and hopefully municipal and provincial partners will be working with Jasper’s business community to help identify specific problems facing individual businesses.
“We’re going to target about six to seven businesses every week until we hear from everyone—regardless if they are a part of the Chamber or not,” Pavlov said. “We want to collect data about what’s going on right from the owner’s mouth.
“We hope this will help us in our efforts to advocate on behalf of businesses in the community.”
Kayla Byrne
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