Extended paid parking times, higher rates affecting late night hospitality employees

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Darren Ainsley is the owner of Refuge Tap Room in downtown Victoria. On Tuesday, he was reviewing a text message he received a day earlier from one of his employees.

“This is from one of my head bartenders,” said Ainsley.

It’s a message that could be potentially devastating for his business.

“It says, ‘I really don’t see many options because I can’t bike, bus or walk and I’m not going to pay $10-plus every time I close,’” said Ainsley.

The employee is considering quitting after the City of Victoria extended its paid parking hours and upped its rates at the beginning of May.

“They just added two hours to the parking, plus 50 cents an hour, so they’ve basically almost tripled what they are paying for parking,” said the business owner.

The tap room opens at 4 p.m. and closes at midnight, meaning his staff are now paying to park for half of their shift. Some are now reconsidering working downtown.

“Sometimes you work until one or two in the morning, and there’s no public transit to take home at that time,” said Matt McInnes, an employee at CRAFT Beer Market.

McInnes often works the closing shift.

Living in Oak Bay, he says driving his car is the safest and often only option to get home after his shift is over, unless he is willing to pay for an expensive cab ride.

“It will definitely play a role when people think about working downtown,” said McInnes.

“Yes, does it have an impact, for sure,” said Marianne Alto, the mayor of Victoria.

Alto says the city is currently working with BC Transit to bring back late night bus service. It’s a service that was cut at the beginning of the pandemic.

“Transit is a key piece of the solution to affordability and affordable housing,” said Alto. “It speaks to so many different aspects of how people can afford to live in the municipalities that they choose, and work in those municipalities.”

BC Transit says a potential late night service is in the works for Friday and Saturday nights. It could be rolled out in the fall, but that will depend on the availability of drivers, another sector that is also seeing a shortage.

Still leaving weeknights without late night service, “I think they should have made alternative ways of getting home for our staff before raising the prices,” said Ainsley.

He believes the city put the carriage in front of the horse, and the downtown late night labour shortage could become worse.

“I don’t want her to walk away because of the parking,” said Ainsley, because filling her role at the tap room during a tight labour market won’t be easy.