{"id":7524,"date":"2026-04-06T09:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/?post_type=ceo-notes&#038;p=7524"},"modified":"2026-04-06T09:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T13:32:09","slug":"update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions","status":"publish","type":"ceo-notes","link":"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/fr\/ceo-note\/update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on Temporary Foreign Worker cap increase for rural regions"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entries-filter button-tabs\">\n    <div class=\"filters\">\n        <ul>\n                    <li class=\"filter\">\n                <a class=\"btn btn-secondary \" href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/ceo-note\/update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions\/#federal\">Federal<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"filter\">\n                <a class=\"btn btn-secondary \" href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/ceo-note\/update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions\/#sustainability\">Sustainability<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"filter\">\n                <a class=\"btn btn-secondary \" href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/ceo-note\/update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions\/#central\">Central<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n                    <li class=\"filter\">\n                <a class=\"btn btn-secondary \" href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/ceo-note\/update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions\/#western\">Western<\/a>\n            <\/li>\n                <\/ul>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since the federal&nbsp;government\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/ceo-note\/tfw-cap-expansion-a-step-forward-for-rural-operators\/#tfw-cap\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announcement<\/a>&nbsp;of a temporary increase for TFWs in rural regions&nbsp;from 10% to 15%, Restaurants Canada has been hard at work&nbsp;lobbying for our industry.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Provinces&nbsp;and territories&nbsp;have to&nbsp;submit&nbsp;a formal&nbsp;request&nbsp;to the federal government to implement&nbsp;the increase&nbsp;in&nbsp;eligible regions. In addition to writing to all provinces and territories urging them to activate this temporary increase, our government relations team has been in constant communications with&nbsp;a range of senior decision-makers to continue the push \u2013 provincial ministers responsible for immigration, Premiers\u2019 offices, offices of other relevant ministers like Labour and Tourism, and members of provincial legislatures for affected regions.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As it stands at present, Quebec has formally declined to&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in the temporary increase. Nova Scotia has accepted the temporary increase, and we understand that New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador are poised to&nbsp;participate&nbsp;as well. We know that many other provinces are actively assessing the issue and we will continue our discussions encouraging those&nbsp;jurisdictions&nbsp;to move forward on the increase.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The situation in Alberta is especially challenging with the ongoing referendum deliberations and the introduction on April 1 of&nbsp;Bill 26, the&nbsp;<em>Immigration Oversight Act<\/em>. The Bill&nbsp;would&nbsp;establish&nbsp;registry requirements for employers of temporary foreign workers,&nbsp;new licensing requirements for foreign worker recruiters and immigration&nbsp;consultants, and&nbsp;would allow the province to&nbsp;establish&nbsp;their own prohibited practices and powers to investigate contraventions. Restaurants Canada has issued&nbsp;a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/immigration-oversight-act-will-create-additional-hiring-barriers-for-alberta-restaurants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">news release<\/a>&nbsp;expressing concerns with the government\u2019s approach and&nbsp;reiterating&nbsp;our industry\u2019s labour needs. We are engaging with the Alberta government on the intentions of this legislation and impact on members.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada also&nbsp;remains&nbsp;in constant contact with&nbsp;the offices of the federal&nbsp;ministers of Immigration and ESDC&nbsp;to track the status of each provincial request&nbsp;and coordinate our engagement. Additionally, we have an upcoming meeting with senior political staff for the&nbsp;Immigration&nbsp;Minister&nbsp;to further reinforce the critical labour needs of our industry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read&nbsp;our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/faq-rural-temporary-foriegn-workers-increase\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">FAQ on the temporary cap increase<\/a>&nbsp;for more information.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Many Hands Make Restaurants Work<\/em><\/strong><strong>&nbsp;campaign underway<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We are now more than a month into&nbsp;Restaurant Canada\u2019s&nbsp;campaign,&nbsp;<em>Many Hands Make Restaurants Work<\/em>. The campaign targets key decision-makers,&nbsp;highlighting&nbsp;the&nbsp;economic importance of our industry and the&nbsp;systemic labour force challenges facing&nbsp;restaurants.&nbsp;&nbsp;The&nbsp;reception has been&nbsp;very strong, with the video having&nbsp;already&nbsp;been viewed&nbsp;150,000 times. Visit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/manyhandswork.ca\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ManyHandsWork.ca<\/a>&nbsp;and share the campaign with your networks&nbsp;to help us&nbsp;drive&nbsp;more engagement and reach policymakers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>AGM recap and board members<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada had a&nbsp;successful&nbsp;81st&nbsp;Annual General Meeting, and&nbsp;I am&nbsp;pleased&nbsp;to provide members with&nbsp;an update&nbsp;on&nbsp;our Board of Directors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the outset, I would like to thank&nbsp;Cindy Simpson&nbsp;who&nbsp;has completed her term on the Board.&nbsp;We\u2019re&nbsp;grateful for her contributions and are pleased that she will continue to lend her&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;as Chair of&nbsp;Groupex&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;remaining&nbsp;on the Executive Committee.\u202fIn recognition&nbsp;of her enormous contributions,&nbsp;Cindy has been nominated&nbsp;as an&nbsp;Honorary Fellow of Restaurants Canada.&nbsp;On a personal note,&nbsp;I would like to thank Cindy for her incredible support and mentorship over the years.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Special thanks and congratulations as well to&nbsp;Jeff Kroll&nbsp;whose board term has also&nbsp;come to an end&nbsp;with his retirement&nbsp;from McDonald\u2019s. Of course, we wish Jeff well for his retirement, but we are not letting him go that easily.&nbsp;We\u2019re&nbsp;thrilled to&nbsp;continue to&nbsp;benefit&nbsp;from his experience and leadership as he serves on the Strategic Planning Committee&nbsp;for Restaurants Canada&nbsp;and joins the&nbsp;Groupex&nbsp;Board as a Director.&nbsp;Jeff has been a wonderful support and&nbsp;mentor&nbsp;and I look forward to continuing to work with&nbsp;him for&nbsp;the benefit of the foodservice industry.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are also pleased to welcome three new directors to the Board:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rachael Borley (Edmonton), Owner and Operations Manager, Woodwork&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Erin Legge (BC), CFO, The Keg Restaurants&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Erin Moore (BC), Chief People Officer, McDonald\u2019s&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally,&nbsp;we\u2019re&nbsp;very&nbsp;happy&nbsp;to confirm that Nicolas Filiatrault will continue as Chair for a second term, serving through March 2027.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find the full list of the Board here:\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.restaurantscanada.org%2Fabout-us%2F&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMStanoeva%40restaurantscanada.org%7C8e0a312f7518446df50d08de8ab5c5a4%7C61cb36f37b9748749f545d6df95ce6d4%7C0%7C0%7C639100710519430980%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=Ttw5N5jAYN3NuK50ZbYEf0ESS29x8s%2Fk4wai2JLixqY%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/about-us\/<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Nominations&nbsp;for&nbsp;the&nbsp;2026 Restaurants&nbsp;Canada&nbsp;Awards of Excellence!&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Nominations for the 2026 Restaurants Canada Awards of Excellence are now open.&nbsp;Recognize innovators, leaders, and changemakers in your community&nbsp;and&nbsp;celebrate their impact by&nbsp;submitting&nbsp;a&nbsp;nomination before June 26.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/awards-of-excellence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nominate today<\/a>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"federal\">FEDERAL UPDATE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>From Matt Triemstra | Vice-President, Federal Affairs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Alcohol Escalator Tax \u2013 2% Cap Extended<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On April 1, the&nbsp;federal government&nbsp;announced a two-year extension of existing excise duty relief measures for Canadian brewers, distillers, and winemakers.&nbsp;&nbsp;Effective April 1, 2026, the government will:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Maintain the cap on annual inflation adjustments for beer, spirits, and wine excise duties at 2%.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continue the 50% reduction in excise duty rates on the first 15,000\u202fhectolitres of beer produced by Canadian brewers.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada has long advocated for the complete removal of an automatic escalator tax on alcohol. Any tax increase is unwelcome news and further strains the restaurant sector which is already&nbsp;operating&nbsp;on thin margins. While extending the current cap at 2%&nbsp;provides&nbsp;a better alternative to a significant hike, more must be done to provide much needed predictability and lower taxes for operators.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada will continue to push both the federal government, and provincial governments, to take targeted action to reduce taxes and mark ups on alcohol. This extension sets a clear expectation that alcohol prices must remain stable across the country, allowing restaurants to offer competitive pricing to Canadian consumers during this ongoing affordability crisis.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Worker Retention Grant<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The\u202fWorker Retention Grant is a new federal initiative that helps employers top up the income of workers&nbsp;participating&nbsp;in training while covered by an active and implemented Work-Sharing agreement. The Work-Sharing program supports employers during temporary downturns by providing Employment Insurance (EI) income support to employees working reduced hours. The grant enables employers with an approved and implemented Work-Sharing agreement and who commit to fostering training opportunities to provide&nbsp;additional&nbsp;income support to their EI-eligible employees who are working reduced hours and training. For more information and to confirm your eligibility, please visit:\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.canada.ca%2Fen%2Femployment-social-development%2Fservices%2Ffunding%2Fworker-retention-grant.html&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMStanoeva%40restaurantscanada.org%7C4b7461c4ad4649ba435008de8f7ea990%7C61cb36f37b9748749f545d6df95ce6d4%7C0%7C0%7C639105971366952221%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=LwGq7Iyw8mCLk0ojWyGfzbn3kfJlk0r2H%2BJM%2BvqYuV0%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/employment-social-development\/services\/funding\/worker-retention-grant.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sustainability\">SUSTAINABILITY UPDATE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>From Jillian Rodak | Vice-President, Sustainability<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Federal Greenwashing Provisions<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 26, Bill C-15 received Royal Assent. This bill included proposed amendments to the greenwashing provisions in the&nbsp;<em>Competition Act<\/em>, which covers requirements for substantiating environmental claims about a business or product. The provisions have been adjusted by:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Narrowing access for&nbsp;third parties&nbsp;to bring forward greenwashing claims directly to the Competition Tribunal.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Removing\u202frequirements\u202ffor companies to substantiate environmental benefit claims using internationally recognized methodologies.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"2\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada&nbsp;participated&nbsp;in a consultation on the proposed greenwashing provisions in the Fall of 2024. We believe the changes above support our members&rsquo; increasing efforts to innovate and communicate about their sustainability progress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Federal Plastics Registry &#8211; next round of consultations<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) will be hosting a series\u202fof\u202fvirtual workshops to discuss stakeholder input and priorities for Phases 2 and 3 of the Federal Plastics\u202fRegistry.&nbsp;Restaurants Canada will be&nbsp;participating&nbsp;in the workshops&nbsp;on behalf of our members, and we are also working on arranging meetings with senior officials&nbsp;at ECCC to discuss these issues in more detail beyond this stakeholder consultation process. If any members would like to&nbsp;participate&nbsp;in the ECCC workshops, click\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.office.com%2FPages%2FResponsePage.aspx%3Fid%3D018MdItudkGcyUVNvk5ixGJFVbmTA89CvxwWZDALrHVUNThBTFQyMEUzN00zSElORE4zS0lVVDhKSiQlQCN0PWcu&amp;data=05%7C02%7CMStanoeva%40restaurantscanada.org%7Ccb3bed169e714aeae12308de8f5e0fdd%7C61cb36f37b9748749f545d6df95ce6d4%7C0%7C0%7C639105831335207860%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=dn97glA5kscL7act4GcJf0SWDxU9ueLrHFAGnRbMUAw%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>\u202fto&nbsp;submit&nbsp;a form by\u202fApril\u202f8, 2026,&nbsp;to be included in upcoming workshops.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"central\">CENTRAL CANADA UPDATE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>From Kris Barnier | Vice-President, Central Canada and the North<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Manitoba&nbsp;Budget 2026 \u2013 Fighting for Fairness on Food PST<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada has been active in the media and has reached out directly to the Kinew Government to express our strong opposition to exempting prepared meals&nbsp;sold&nbsp;in grocery stores from PST while not committing to do the same for restaurants. We have called this measure illogical, impractical, and unfair to Manitoba consumers, workers, and restaurant operators. We will continue to aggressively fight for fairness for your businesses, employees, and patrons.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our full overview of the Budget can be found&nbsp;here.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Manitoba&nbsp;Business Security Rebate<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Manitoba Business Security Rebate Program remains open and is still accepting claims. The program offers up to $2,500 per business location to help foodservice and other businesses repair crime-related property damage and invest in eligible security measures. There is no cap on the number of locations per applicant. Program details and application information are available&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/securityrebate.manitoba.ca\/en-US\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.\u202f&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ontario Budget<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada President and CEO&nbsp;Kelly Higginson and&nbsp;VP for Central Canada Kris Barnier&nbsp;were invited guests of Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy as he delivered Ontario\u2019s 2026 Budget in the Legislature. The Budget&nbsp;did&nbsp;include a welcome measure to reduce the Ontario small business tax rate from 3.2% to 2.2% on the first $500,000 of taxable income&nbsp;there was&nbsp;no movement on alcohol pricing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The unfairness for restaurants on beer pricing by major brewers&nbsp;continues, with grocery and convenience stores receiving preferential treatment in the range 30% over restaurants in Ontario. This is an issue we are continuing to push aggressively with the government, building on recent positive discussions with the Premier who is very sympathetic to correcting this unfairness to our sector.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As members know,&nbsp;the&nbsp;LCBO\u2019s&nbsp;new wholesale pricing structure&nbsp;came into effect on April 1.&nbsp;It is our understanding&nbsp;that, in general,&nbsp;prices decreased slightly or remained relatively flat for spirits and decreased further for cider and ready-to-drink beverages.&nbsp;For wine, it appears that&nbsp;lower&nbsp;priced products declined slightly, while higher-priced&nbsp;wines have&nbsp;increased&nbsp;in price. We welcome any feedback you can share regarding how the new LCBO service model and pricing approach are impacting your business.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our Budget recap can be found\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Manitoba-Budget-2026-gives-unfair-advantage-to-grocers-over-restaurants.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Connecting with&nbsp;Ontario&nbsp;Premier Ford and the Red Tape Reduction Minister<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada&nbsp;connected with Red Tape Reduction Minister Andrea Khanjin and Premier Doug Ford at a&nbsp;recent&nbsp;event in Toronto.&nbsp;We&nbsp;spoke with the Minister about Ontario\u2019s Healthy Menu Act and how it creates unique costs and requirements for restaurants to print calorie counts on menus.&nbsp;We&nbsp;expect to meet with&nbsp;the Minister&nbsp;in the coming weeks to discuss this matter in greater detail.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&nbsp;also had a productive conversation with the Premier about challenges facing the restaurant industry.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1017\" height=\"763\" src=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7530\" style=\"width:750px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image.png 1017w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-768x576.png 768w, https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-600x450.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1017px) 100vw, 1017px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Toronto&nbsp;Caf\u00e9TO Grants<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Caf\u00e9TO Grant is available to commercial and industrial property owners and tenants in Toronto to improve the appearance and\/or function of curb lane caf\u00e9s, commercial patios, and sidewalk caf\u00e9s.&nbsp;Applications are being accepted until 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, or until all the grant funding has been expended.&nbsp;Click&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.toronto.ca\/business-economy\/business-operation-growth\/business-incentives\/cafeto-grants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here<\/a>&nbsp;for more information.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"western\">WESTERN CANADA UPDATE<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>From Cheryl Maitland Muir | Vice-President, Western Canada<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>British Columbia<\/strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><strong>LCRB licence renewal fee increase<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) has\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.gov.bc.ca\/gov\/content\/employment-business\/business\/liquor-regulation-licensing\/about-lcrb\/bulletins\/bulletin-26-01-liquor-licence-renewal-fee-update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>announced<\/strong><\/a>\u202fthat annual liquor licence renewal fees will increase 30% effective May 1, 2026. This is the first update to renewal fees in more than 15 years and is intended to support modernized, self-sustaining licensing services.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada recognizes this increase represents another added cost for B.C. restaurants, at a time when you are already facing intense financial pressure.&nbsp;Later this month we are meeting with Minister Popham and will continue&nbsp;to highlight how rising operating costs, many of them government&nbsp;driven, are undermining restaurants\u2019 profitability.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www2.gov.bc.ca\/gov\/content\/employment-business\/business\/liquor-regulation-licensing\/about-lcrb\/bulletins\/bulletin-26-01-liquor-licence-renewal-fee-update\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Visit LCRB for more information.<\/a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Alberta: Food inspection update<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Alberta Health Ministry\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alberta.ca\/food-safety-engagement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">public engagement<\/a>&nbsp;on the proposed&nbsp;food safety inspection grading system&nbsp;and the&nbsp;food safety culture excellence recognition&nbsp;program is now closed. We continue to speak with key government decision makers on the&nbsp;problems with the government\u2019s proposed approach that do not ultimately benefit public health. Our concerns are being well received, and we will continue to update you as&nbsp;discussions progress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This month, Restaurants Canada will be attending the AGLC\u2019s Safer Bars Council meeting as well as the Premier\u2019s Summit on Fairness for Newcomers, both of which will provide opportunities to meet with decision makers and advocate on behalf of Alberta&nbsp;restaurants.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Saskatchewan<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Restaurants Canada will be attending the Saskatchewan Food and Beverage Expo in Regina at the end of April. We will be planning member engagement opportunities and look forward to seeing you then!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>With gratitude,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Since the federal&nbsp;government\u2019s&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;of a temporary increase for TFWs in rural regions&nbsp;from 10% to 15%, Restaurants Canada has been hard at work&nbsp;lobbying for our industry.&nbsp;&nbsp; Provinces&nbsp;and territories&nbsp;have to&nbsp;submit&nbsp;a formal&nbsp;request&nbsp;to the federal government to implement&nbsp;the increase&nbsp;in&nbsp;eligible regions. In addition to writing to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7525,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"advocacy-issue":[],"class_list":["post-7524","ceo-notes","type-ceo-notes","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Update on Temporary Foreign Worker cap increase for rural regions - Restaurants Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurantscanada.org\/ceo-note\/update-on-temporary-foreign-worker-cap-increase-for-rural-regions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on Temporary Foreign Worker cap increase for rural regions - Restaurants Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Since the federal&nbsp;government\u2019s&nbsp;announcement&nbsp;of a temporary increase for TFWs in rural regions&nbsp;from 10% to 15%, Restaurants Canada has been hard at work&nbsp;lobbying for our industry.&nbsp;&nbsp; Provinces&nbsp;and territories&nbsp;have to&nbsp;submit&nbsp;a formal&nbsp;request&nbsp;to the federal government to implement&nbsp;the increase&nbsp;in&nbsp;eligible regions. 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