Recruiting & Retaining Today’s Youth Workforce with First Work
Webinar Date: August 27, 2025 — 2:00 PM EDT Youth are a key demographic for restaurants to achieve…
From Global Kitchens to Local Plates: Immigration’s Role in Canada’s Restaurant Landscape.
The food and accommodation sector is the largest employer of immigrants and newcomers to Canada. Half of all Canadian restaurants are run by entrepreneurs who came here as immigrants, providing economic, social, and cultural benefits to communities across the country.
Immigration 
Canada’s fourth-largest employer; over 1.2 million employees from coast to coast
The largest employer of immigrants and newcomers to Canada
Inclusive – 58% of the foodservice workforce are women
Diverse – 31% of restaurant owners belong to visible minority groups
Member Feature
Menthe et Couscous
Montréal, QC
Our Recommendations
There are currently one million open work permitted newcomers in Canada made up of asylum seekers, refugees and international students. Unfortunately, newcomers often face significant barriers to full time Canadian employment and large numbers of them are currently unemployed. The restaurant industry has 78,000 job vacancies across Canada and a solid track record of supporting newcomers. This represents a win-win-win for governments, newcomers and the restaurant industry.
Our Recommendation: Implement a government run program to match open work permit newcomers with opportunity for employment in the restaurant industry.
To learn more about our ask, click here.
Related Resources
National 
Restaurants Canada strongly supports Premiers’ call for immediate work permits for asylum seekers and reinstatement of economic immigration allocations
Restaurants Canada welcomes and supports the collective call by Canada’s Premiers at yesterday’s Council of the Federation meeting…
