March 28, 2012 - Ottawa – The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) and the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) met with the Alberta Conservative Caucus and the All Party Federal Tourism Caucus today in two separate sessions. In total, more than 60 Ministers, MPs and Senators heard from the lodging industry on current labour shortages.

HAC President, Tony Pollard congratulated the Members for the Federal Tourism Strategy announced in October 2011. One of the four pillars of the Federal Strategy is to ensure the availability of human resources for the tourism sector. “This is a critical issue for the lodging industry in Alberta and across Canada,” said Tony Pollard, President of the Hotel Association of Canada.”

"We continue to support the Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” said Dave Kaiser, President & CEO of the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association adding, “the permanent solution however, is to have more temporary foreign workers graduate to permanent, full time staff under the Provincial Nominee Program.”

The lodging industry is recommending the government provide more provincial nominee certificates to accommodate the demand for semi-skilled occupations, alleviating our long term dependency on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

About the Hotel Association of Canada
The Hotel Association of Canada is the national voice and resource for the Hotel and Lodging Industry in Canada. For nearly 100 years, it has worked to enhance the prosperity of the Canadian Hotel and Lodging Industry through strong member engagements, effective government advocacy, and the provision of value added programs and services. The Hotel Association represents more than 8,400 hotels, motels and resorts that encompass the $16 billion Canadian hotel industry which employs 284,000 people across Canada.
www.hotelassociation.ca.

About the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association
The Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) is a member-driven organization that represents the interests of more than 900 hotels, motels and campgrounds across the province. Since 1922, the association has been its members’ voice on issues that affect Alberta’s tourism and hospitality industry.

The AHLA’s purpose is to support the members and strengthen Alberta’s tourism and hospitality industry. The AHLA’s four pillars of Tourism Marketing, Member Value Programs, Human Resource Development, and Government Relations offer programs and services that enhance the economic prosperity and social fabric of the industry.