Short-staffed ski resorts facing uphill battle as season nears
Hills across the country having a hard time filling vacant jobs
Ski hills in the Ottawa-Gatineau area say they're still short on staff as their busiest season approaches.
"We are always looking for new people," Camp Fortune's François Bernier told Radio-Canada in a French-language interview.
Ski resorts across the country are reporting similar staffing shortages.
Bernier said Camp Fortune, near Chelsea, Que., has had to adjust over the course of the pandemic.
"There was no one in the kitchen, the cafeteria was not open [and] the ski school was operating in a different way," he said.
- Ski resorts across B.C. desperate for staff as seasonal workers struggle to enter Canada
- Alberta ski resorts better prepared to tackle staff shortages this winter
Camp Fortune held a job fair over the weekend in an attempt to fill vacancies in the resort's rental and retail shops, kitchen and customer service area. The hill is also seeking snow makers, chairlift attendants, mechanics and cleaning staff.
Mont Cascades in Cantley, Que., made a similar appeal in late October.
At Calabogie Peaks Resort, west of Ottawa, chief operating officer Jim Hemlin said recruitment is going as well as can be expected.
"We're in as good of shape as we can be," he said. "It could always be better."
While Calabogie has in the past relied largely on international hires, particularly Australians, Hemlin said about 70 per cent of its new employees are locals.
"[It was] a lot of HR work, but I think we're going to be OK," he said.
With files from Radio-Canada’s Rosalie Sinclair
