Fast-food restaurants closing as Quebec unemployment rate nears all-time low

With the Quebec unemployment at its lowest rate in decades, Quebec's fast-food industry is struggling to find staff with some reducing their hours and others being forced to shut their doors altogether.

The latest casualty is a KFC restaurantin Lvis, Que.

Despite a social media recruitment campaign and wages starting above the $11.25 minimum, the restaurant was unable to lure enough workers to remain in operation, said Richard Hbert, director of operations for Olympus Food Canada, which owns the restaurant.

"Certainly, financially, it is not positive," he said.

KFC isn't the only chain struggling due to the labour crunch.

A McDonald's franchise in Val-d'Or also temporarily closed because it couldn't find enough staff, and Tim Hortonsrecently cut its hours at its outletin Saint-Lambert-de-Lauzon.

Unemployment rate near historic low

Quebec's economy is booming and, in recent months, the unemployment rate has been hovering around six per cent, nearly the lowest it's been since Statistics Canada began keeping track in 1976.

That means employers can expect to have a tougher time filling both skilled positions and low-wage jobs.

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The Quebec Restaurant Association has been fielding anxious calls from members.

Martin Vzina, the spokesperson for the Quebec Restaurant Association, said the problem is getting worse.

Restaurants in the Quebec City area have, in particular, struggled to find workers, with one local restaurateur even suggesting the start of school be pushed back to October to ease the labour crunch.

"We have seen a drop of nine per cent of available employees among 18-to-25 year olds, which traditionally make up our labour pool," Vzina said.

Isabelle Leblanc, whowas forced to temporarily close her McDonald's franchise in Val-d'Or, saidshe couldn't find enough workers, and service suffered.

"It's certain that when three people are missing during a busy stretch, it's the customers who pay for it. The service is not as fast, there are errors," she said recently.

Will wages follow suit?

Fabian Lange, an economics professorat McGill University, sees in the trend an opportunity to drive up wages and benefits in traditionally low-income sectors.

Quebec has been a laggard when it comes to minimum wage, only committing to a $12.45 per hour wage by 2020.

Ontario, meanwhile, is working its way up to a $15 per hour minimum wage by 2019.

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"Strong demand for low-paid workers relative to its supply is the only sustaining way to lift improve outcomes for low paid workers," Lange said in an email.

Jean-Guy Ct, an associate director at the Institut du Qubec, said it's too soon to say if reports of labour shortages in the fast-food industry will have a ripple effect throughout the labour market.

"Generally, in these kind of industries, the salaries are very close to the minimum, so if you see an increase in other industries, you will see them move out of that," he said.

He noted that jobs in science and technologyand in engineering have also been hard to fill and that immigration will be needed to counterbalance the province's aging workforce.