Missing Mondays: Provincewide worker shortage forces restaurants to rethink Monday service
Inside Victoria’s iconic Dutch Bakery, a small bell rings every time an order comes through the kitchen.
Since Labour Day weekend, the bell hasn’t rung once at the Fort Street diner on a Monday.
"Being open six days a week was just no longer a functional option for us,” said co-owner Michelle Bryne.
“So, since the Labour Day weekend we've been closed Mondays."
Like so many restaurants in B.C., the pastry proprietor has been forced to shift hours of operation because of a major lack of staff.
The Dutch Bakery is now closed Sundays and Mondays so the staff it has kept through the pandemic doesn’t burn out.
"This is certainly not how we wanted to do business,” Bryne told CTV News Vancouver Island.
Victoria’s Downtown Business Association has watched as the restaurant industry has been pushed to new limits during the COVID-19 crisis.
It says many food service operators are now toying with hours in a way they have never before, all in hopes of staying afloat with so few staff.
"It's not like they've been having a great year-and-a-half,” said Jeff Bray, the business association’s executive director.
“It's been very tight all along and this is just another impact of COVID-19.”
Province-wide, the B.C. Foodservice and Restaurant Association estimates the industry is short more than 40,000 workers.
"It's going to be 10 years in B.C. before we have enough workers to handle our own economy,” said Ian Tostenson, the association’s president and CEO.
“That's why immigration is so important and why we are in such trouble now."
The Development Bank of Canada recently released a survey suggesting 55 per cent of small and medium-sized businesses cannot find enough staff.
The survey found the lack of workers is stunting the financial growth of the businesses in a major way.
Back at the Dutch Bakery, owners say hiring staff is nearly impossible right now, meaning they don’t expect Mondays will be coming back any time soon.
"Definitely for the foreseeable future; there just aren't people who want to work," Bryne said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP motion regarding Palestinian statehood passes after major Liberal alterations
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
'He didn't want to die': Family of Calgary man killed in standoff speaks out
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
Ohio mom who left toddler alone 10 days when she went on vacation pleads guilty to aggravated murder
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Retired teacher pleads guilty to paying for sex with 15-year-old in Collingwood, Ont.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
5 charged in Calgary kidnappings that targeted women
Calgary police have charged five men in a pair of kidnappings last year that targeted innocent victims.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Canadian commander of volunteer fighter group dies in Ukraine
A Canadian-born commander of the so-called Norman Brigade, a volunteer fighting group in Ukraine, has died.