Weekly Liquor Industry Update: April 28, 2022
Dear ABLE BC Members and Industry Colleagues,
Here's what you'll find inside today's update:
· Happy Eight Year Anniversary to ABLE BC’s Executive Director, Jeff Guignard!
· Hiring Foreign Workers Webinar with Alison Langford, May 11
· Offering Employment to Ukrainians Arriving in Canada
· New Federal Measures Announced to Address Canada's Labour Shortage
· Government of Canada Introduces Workforce Solutions Road Map
· GVBOT Shares Open Letter to Premier Horgan on Introduction of Bill 10-2022
· Accepting Empty Container Returns
· BC Seeking Feedback on Cannabis Consumption Spaces
· Comox and Campbell River Liquor Industry Meetings May 5
· Diversity and Inclusion Training Sessions
· go2HR Seeking Nominations for Board of Directors
· Only 4 Spots Left - BCHF Kelowna Golf Tournament
· Out and About with ABLE BC!
Find all past updates here.
Happy Eight Year Anniversary to ABLE BC’s Executive Director, Jeff Guignard!
Today is my eight-year anniversary as Executive Director of ABLE BC. And honestly? I still absolutely love this job.
When I left Parliament Hill and Ottawa in 2014 to join BC’s liquor industry, I had no idea how much this job—or this community—would mean to me. I knew it would be interesting and challenging work, but it never occurred to me that I’d visit nearly every community in BC (often on my motorcycle), nor how many of you would become friends.
Looking back over the past eight years, I am humbled by the industry’s ongoing support and feel immensely proud of everything we accomplished together.
For liquor retailers, we protected the 1 km rule and halted the spread of wine in grocery licenses; we secured significant improvements in LDB service issues (such as live inventory visibility); and we extended the moratorium on new LRS licenses a further 10 years—until 2032.
We secured wholesale hospitality pricing for BC’s pubs, bars, and restaurants; won permission to sell alcohol with take-away and delivery meals; and amended provincial and municipal rules to help build over 2000 new and temporary patios during the pandemic.
We created the annual BC Liquor Conference (now in its seventh year), hosted over a hundred industry meetings around BC, and stood proudly as our industry’s voice and advocate to media and government during the worst of the pandemic.
And in the past two pandemic years alone, we helped secure over $200 million of support for BC’s liquor and hospitality industry and amended dozens of Public Health Orders to support you and your businesses.
It’s been a lot of work, but our successes show clearly how much we can achieve when our industry is united, focused, and dedicated to our common goal of building a thriving private liquor industry in BC.
We still have much work to do—particularly as we’re all trying to recover from the financial ravages of the pandemic. But today I am filled with gratitude and pride for the support and leadership of ABLE BC’s Board of Directors, our diligent team, and our passionate members. I honestly could not do this job without you. Nor would it be anywhere near as fun.
Speaking of work, I’ll be traveling around BC again this May to visit members and industry professionals. I hope to see many of you in-person for the first time in over two years! You’ll find details of our next two meetings below, and further locations and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.
Until then, you can always reach me at jeff@ablebc.ca.
-Jeff
HELPFUL LINKS
ABLE BC Resources
Visit our COVID-19 Resources page for Liquor Primary COVID Best Practices, template signage, recent policy changes, and more.
Public Health Orders
Visit this page to download all current regional and provincial public health orders.
BC's Restart Plan
Visit the BC Government website for more information on the four-step
Restart Plan.
go2HR Resources
Visit the go2HR website for COVID-19 FAQ for Employers, HR information and updates, and more.
Hiring Foreign Workers Webinar with Alison Langford May 11
On Wednesday, May 11 at 10:00 am we will be hosting a webinar with Alison Langford, Workforce Strategist for the BC Hotel Association (BCHA) on hiring foreign workers. Alison will walk us through the options for hiring Temporary Foreign Workers, Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA), and other foreign labour issues.
If you have specific questions about hiring foreign workers, please submit them here.
· Date: Wednesday, May 11, 2022
· Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am
· Location: Zoom
Please RSVP by Monday, May 9, 2022 to Ann Brydle, Manager of Membership and Communication at ann@ablebc.ca or by clicking here.
Hiring Foreign Workers Webinar RSVP
Offering Employment to Ukrainians Arriving in Canada
Many members have asked about hiring Ukrainian refugees. Our partners at go2HR have offered the following information:
The Federal government introduced a number of special measures to support the people of Ukraine, including the Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel (CUAET) which offers Ukrainians and their family members free, extended temporary status and allows them to work, study and stay in Canada until it is safe for them to return home. It also gives those who are already in Canada the option to extend their visitor status, work permit or study permit so that they can continue to live and work or study in Canada temporarily.
Canadian employers wishing to support Ukrainians through offers of employment should register their available jobs on the Canada Job Bank. Canadian officials are directing Ukrainian nationals who are seeking employment to this site.
Ukrainian Communities in Canada
A number of Ukrainian communities in BC and nationally are working to connect hiring employers with Ukrainian job seekers:
Vancouver
· The Ukrainian Community Society of Ivan Franko in Vancouver also encourages employers with available employment opportunities to register with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Vancouver Branch via email.
· Post a Job - Ukrainian Vancouver
Outside Vancouver
· Register available jobs by completing an online form provided by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. This group is collecting and processing information and will contact you directly should someone be interested.
· Post a Job - Help Ukraine Vancouver Island
· Prince George for Ukraine Facebook group or email