Growth in British Columbia’s tourism industry has led to new research that will look into how to attract and retain the hospitality industry’s most in-demand occupations – cooks and chefs.

An investment of $140,160 will fund a comprehensive labour market information study to identify the skills required for in-demand cooks and chefs and outline effective strategies to train, attract and retain chefs and cooks. The study will also look at issues related to wages, productivity, labour as a proportion of operational costs, gratuities and other non-wage benefits.

“As part of the BC Jobs Plan, the tourism sector is experiencing tremendous growth and there’s no surprise that we need to attract more cooks and chefs. This study is one way we can ensure that B.C.’s labour force has what it needs in order to keep our economy growing,” stated Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour.

This labour study is not only beneficial to the tourism and hospitality sector, but it will be an important source of information across all sectors that employ cooks and chefs such as natural resources and health care to institutional employers.

“The job duties of the 40,000 individuals in B.C. who fall into the cook and chef categories can include everything from someone preparing food at their first job in a quick-serve restaurant to a seasoned industry executive managing all of the operations for a large restaurant or hotel chain. We are conducting the first cross-sector analysis of this occupational group to get a better understanding of the needs of each industry sub-sector within the culinary landscape,” explained Dennis Green, director, industry workforce development, go2HR.

The project is part of the Sector Labour Market Partnerships Program, which is funded through the Canada – British Columbia Labour Market Development Agreement (LMDA).

The Sector Labour Market Partnerships Program helps to ensure that training and education programs in B.C. are aligned with industry’s labour market needs and priorities.

This year, close to 20 Sector LMP Projects have been active throughout the province, with seven new projects implemented in the last five months. Sectors currently working on Sector LMP projects include tourism, manufacturing, construction, technology and the green economy, as well as projects that relate to the labour market participation of Aboriginal peoples.

B.C., ranked second in economic growth in Canada in 2014, is expected to lead the country in economic growth in 2015 and 2016.

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