The law proposed by the Coalition Avenir Québec to set the legal age for entry into the labor market at 14 has disappointed restaurateurs who expect restaurants to close.
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“Yes, we are disappointed. We didn’t want to have such a fixed age in the bill,” admitted Association Restoration Québec’s vice president of public and government affairs, Martin Vézina, bluntly.
According to an internal association survey, a third of restaurants have to hire young people under the age of 14 in order to be successful.
“Our operators did not choose this pool because they liked it. They did it out of necessity,” Mr Vézina told QUB radio on Wednesday, stressing that the steps involved in recruiting workers from abroad are complicated.
As for the local workforce, a 21% salary increase since 2019 in the industry is not enough to attract enough new workers, especially in the regions.
In addition to laying off workers, restaurateurs must decide to close businesses.
“In rural areas of Quebec, in the regions, there won’t be many restaurants left,” predicted Mr. Vézina.