Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

A working holiday

Foreign workers are crucial to Whistler's success, and are likely to become more important in the years ahead

By Mike Crane

Sitting in Vancouver International Airport my senses are heightened as I daydream about what the immediate future holds. After a flight across the Pacific, I will be touching down on foreign soil; soil that for the next year of my life will be called home.

Like many Canadians, I will be fortunate enough to be taking part in an international exchange program that offers the chance to dive head first into a foreign culture and undoubtedly experience the opportunity of a lifetime.

Only a month ago I was queued up in the Japanese consulate waiting to put in my working holiday visa application to the next stern-faced visa officer. Four days later the visa that would grant me the privilege of working and residing in Japan for one year would be ready for pick up. My only requirements were to have a return plane ticket, some money in the bank and to be between 18 and 30 years of age.

With working holiday visa in hand and a job lined up through a previous boss at the Chateau Whistler, I would go on to be the first and only foreign cook working at a luxurious Yokohama bay hotel, a Western culinary creator amongst 120 Japanese cooks and chefs.

Leaping head first into the deep waters of Japanese culture, the life I had come to know in Whistler seemed far, far away. Days were spent commuting to work, on a packed commuter train, to a job where I no longer spoke my first language; in effect picking up a new skill that I now use on a daily basis back in Whistler. Downtime was spent exploring the urban sprawl of the 20-odd million residents of Tokyo and Yokohama and enjoying the many amazing aspects of Japanese culture, using every opportunity to check out every corner of my temporary backyard.

While I was working, breathing and living the Japanese life, I often pondered the thoughts of those Japanese who had opted to spend their working holiday in Whistler.

My time abroad would go on to give me some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life to date. And liking it so much I went on to experience both Australia and France under the working holiday visa program. By the time they were over, my working holiday adventures would take me from the peak of Mt. Fuji, to the depths of the Great Barrier Reef, and from top of the Eiffel Tower, to lazing on fine sandy beaches under the warmth of a glowing Mediterranean sun, all while working and soaking in the varied aspects of these unique cultures.

My escapades, in effect, have given me a greater understanding of and a deeper appreciation for the world we live in. They have essentially shaped me, if ever so slightly, into the person I am today. I’ve been blessed with friends from all over the world and have come to believe that the world would be a better place if everyone spent a year abroad experiencing how other cultures live.

This story, however, is not about me and my adventures but about those working holiday makers who if only for a year become part of our resort community, experiencing and sharing the place we call home.

In Whistler we are surrounded by those on the other end. Every year people from Australia, Denmark, France, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden and the UK flock to Whistler on working holidays, opting to spend their time seeing how we Canadians live and enjoy all that we have to offer. Through the working holiday program these citizens are required to generally be between 18 and 30 years of age and possess funds to be self sufficient during their time in Canada. Recent graduates and/or full-time students from Austria, Germany and South Africa may also participate in the working holiday exchange program.

Of course Whistler is not the only Canadian town that the more than 30,000 people annually granted working holiday visas in this country come to. Whistler, however, is unique in the sense that perhaps more than any other community across the nation, people on working holidays play a critical role in the way the resort community works. People on working holiday visas are a huge percentage of our work force.

The numbers are quite staggering: Of Whistler-Blackcomb’s 3,800 winter season paid employees roughly 1,200 hold a working holiday visa. At the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, Michelle Graham, the director of human resources, says, “About 20 per cent of our colleagues are on working holiday visas.” A nd at the Whistler Chamber of Commerce 2006 job fair, of the 300 candidates interviewed 72 per cent were on working holidays.

People on working holidays fill a huge void in Whistler and allow local businesses, both large and small, to meet their operational needs and continue to be a viable part of Whistler’s economy.

Asked at last fall’s job fair why they chose Whistler rather than some other place in Canada, many people’s answer was Whistler’s reputation, followed by its location. It is the lifestyle and numerous job opportunities that make Whistler the perfect match for thousands of working holiday makers every year.

Putting together this story, I met people from all over the world working not only as lifties but as chefs, hostesses, cabbies, retail clerks, grocery store attendants, baristas, servers, ski technicians, photographers and stewards — generally someone at nearly every type of business in town.

Aside from housing issues, one common complaint resonates with both the people on working holiday visas and their employers. They wish they could stay longer.

While many temporary residents feel a year in Whistler is too little time, many employers wish foreigners’ working holidays could be extended, to provide more stability in the labour pool. After investing in extensive and often costly training of employees, employers find it hard to watch that investment in human resources be forced to leave the country — and then have to go through the same investment in time and money after hiring replacements.

Talks of visa extensions have been frequent in the news in the last year. While some headway has been made with straight work visas, progress has been slower in regards to extending the working holiday program.

Chamber President Louise Lundy has been very involved in efforts to have working holiday visas extended from the current one year to two years. While Lundy recognizes people on working holidays are not the sole solution to Whistler’s current and future labour shortages, she feels that it is a very large piece in the puzzle.

“We need 3,500 workers every winter in Whistler and an extension would definitely provide some much needed stability and retention to our workforce,” she said.

Last year Lundy included the need for an extension of working holiday visas, as part of an overall labour plan to the previous citizen and immigration minister, Monte Solberg. Solberg has since switched portfolios, to human resources and social development.

Meanwhile, a standing committee in Ottawa has undertaken a petition and is actively lobbying the federal government on immigration initiatives including the working holiday visa program. One of the committee members is Liberal Member of Parliament Blair Wilson, whose West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky riding includes Whistler.

Wilson says that although this issue has been brought to both the previous minister of immigration and citizenship and the current minister, Diane Finley, the Conservative government has simply not addressed the issue as of yet. He adds that he and other members of the committee are looking at ways they can get the government to address the issue.

Looking ahead for Whistler, this issue becomes more important with each passing day. With Pique Newsmagazine averaging 12 to 15 pages of job advertisements in recent months, it’s clear that on the road to the Olympics, we will need these working holiday makers more than ever. With numerous construction projects in the corridor facing tight deadlines and enticing employees with high wages, it will be the service industry that is likely to be hardest hit by the labour shortage. And that could have huge impacts for Whistler.

Some of the larger businesses in town already directly market employment opportunities in other countries, sending human resources personnel to hold overseas job fairs, as part of their recruitment plans. This is a strategy that the province of Alberta is also using, as it seeks skilled workers.

Whistler businesses and Whistler as a whole will have to continue to market to these potential employees and entice them to choose Whistler as their number one choice to spend their working holiday.

As they say, the proof is in the pudding and the number one marketers will most certainly be those who have lived and loved Whistler like home and upon returning to their corner of the world, will encourage others to mark Whistler as Canada’s destination extraordinaire.

To those who have called Whistler their home, if only for a year, we thank you. And do come back soon.

 

 

SIDEBAR

The employee shortage in context

 

A study released last June by go2, the B.C. tourism industry’s human resources association, found that labour shortages in the Sea to Sky region will worsen over the next decade.

A key finding of the report was that tourism operators currently need to attract an average of 3,500 workers every year from outside the Sea to Sky region, and that it will not be possible to recruit sufficient workers from the local labour market to fill this gap over the next 10 years. The annual shortfall of workers was found to be most acute in Whistler.

The study also found that growth in the four key tourism-related industries of accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and retail trade is expected to add an additional 2,500 jobs by 2015. While the majority of the new jobs are expected to be in Whistler, the growth rate for tourism jobs in the surrounding area is projected to be slightly higher than for Whistler itself.

As well, the study reported that increased pressure from other sectors, an aging demographic, and the high cost of living in the resort region will make it increasingly difficult to attract workers over the next decade.

Across the province, it’s estimated that between now and 2018 there will be 1 million job openings in B.C. With only 650,000 students currently in the K-12 school system in the province, that means there are potentially 350,000 current and future job openings that need to be filled by workers from outside of B.C.

The provincial government has launched an initiative called WorkBC (www.WorkBC.ca) to bring employers and employees together and help both groups understand the trends and resources available to them.

And as part of a general campaign to boost recruitment businessman Jimmy Pattison and lululemon athletica founder Chip Wilson have agreed to volunteer their time and efforts to encourage people to move to British Columbia.

If you wish to comment on the holiday work visa program, drop a line to Member of Parliament, Blair Wilson at blair@blairwilson.ca

Alternatively let the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Diane Finley know your concerns at minister@cic.gc.ca

Those wishing to work abroad should check out our foreign affairs and international trade website at www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/123go



Comments