{"id":493253,"date":"2021-05-13T09:50:08","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T13:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/quebecs-restaurants-need-a-sector-specific-survival-package-to-bring-back-84700-jobs-2\/"},"modified":"2021-05-13T09:50:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-13T13:50:08","slug":"quebecs-restaurants-need-a-sector-specific-survival-package-to-bring-back-84700-jobs-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/quebecs-restaurants-need-a-sector-specific-survival-package-to-bring-back-84700-jobs-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec\u2019s restaurants need a sector-specific survival package to bring back 84,700 jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nFoodservice businesses need an exemption from the scheduled scale-back of the wage and rent subsidies to bring back nearly half a million jobs still missing from the Canadian economy
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QUEBEC CITY, May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Restaurants Canada is calling for a sector-specific support package to recover more than 400,000 foodservice jobs \u2014 including 84,700 jobs still missing from Quebec\u2019s restaurant sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cRestaurants are key to feeding Quebec\u2019s recovery and bringing back jobs, but first they need to survive,\u201d said Olivier Bourbeau, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Federal and Quebec. \u201cIf subsidies are scaled back too soon, they won\u2019t have the working capital they need to transition from survival to revival.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n Restaurants account for most of Canada\u2019s pandemic employment gap<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

According to the April Labour Force Survey<\/a> from Statistics Canada, more than two thirds (70.9%) of the 503,000 jobs still missing from the Canadian economy in the wake of COVID-19 are from the foodservice sector.<\/p>\n

Factoring in the 80,700 employees who didn\u2019t work any hours last month, there are still 437,500 fewer people working in Canada\u2019s foodservice sector than there were in February 2020. This includes 84,700 restaurant jobs still not recovered in Quebec \u2014 nearly a third of the province\u2019s foodservice workforce.<\/p>\n

With a number of provinces prolonging or increasing dining restrictions as they continue to contend with the third wave of the pandemic, further foodservice job losses will likely be reported in May.<\/p>\n

\n Half of restaurants face risk of closure if subsidies are scaled back too soon<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\u201cThe vast majority of foodservice businesses have been operating at a loss or barely breaking even throughout the entire pandemic, with nearly half consistently losing money for more than a year,\u201d said Bourbeau. \u201cThey have been counting on the rent and wage subsidies to be the bridge they need to stay alive until dining restrictions are lifted and they can truly start to recover without the help of emergency support.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the latest survey data from Restaurants Canada:<\/p>\n