Some in Canada’s hospitality sector ‘feel left out’ by federal budget

Some within Canada’s hospitality industry say the federal government’s 2025 budget fails to deliver meaningful support to a sector still trying to dig out from rising costs, weaker consumer spending, and ongoing staffing shortages.

Sam Brenner is the president of Silverware, a point-of-sale technology company used by restaurants, bars, and hotels nationwide.

He tells 1130 NewsRadio it feels like Ottawa left one of the country’s largest employment sectors out of the conversation entirely.

“We were hoping to see measures around relief on cost of living, hospitality training and support, even a direction out of the labour challenges we’re seeing. It feels like none of those things were in there, or at least addressed with enough detail.”

Brenner says Ottawa’s lack of focus on a clear plan to replace foreign workers — with federal immigration caps set to tighten over the next two years — is one of his biggest concerns.

He warns the impact could be felt immediately if staffing gets even tighter.

“Temporary residents fill essential positions — chef, cook, waiter, front of staff, whatever the case is.”

New national survey data from the 2025 Canadian Hospitality Service Report backs that up:

• 39 per cent of operators say rising costs are the top threat
• 27 per cent are facing significant staffing shortages
• 31 per cent say lack of staff is hurting guest experience

Some optimism in B.C.

In B.C., there is renewed optimism following the eight-week B.C. General Employees’ Union strike, as the province rushes to rebuild liquor distribution ahead of the holidays.

“Everybody’s feeling pretty good. I mean, there are nuanced products that aren’t available yet that’ll take some time, but the majority of products are back in the system and moving through quite quickly,” said Ian Tostensen, president of the BC Restaurants and Food Services Association.

Tostensen adds that the Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run also helped fill local watering holes as supply began to stabilize.

Despite that, he agrees the lack of labour focus remains the single biggest threat — as the province is short roughly 15,000 skilled industry workers.

“We try to solve it domestically. We’d like to hire domestically first, but it’s such a vast number. So we were hoping the government would’ve addressed immigration a little bit more regionally and a little bit more sort of sectorally.”

“Because if this isn’t solved in the next year or so, we’re going to see quite a few businesses not being able to operate.”