Ingonish resort cutting back staff next year to renovate 70-year-old main lodge

The Keltic Lodge in Ingonish, N.S., is temporarily closing half its accommodations and restaurants next year to renovate the 70-year-old main lodge and cottages and the shutdown will affect the resort's temporary foreign workers.

Earlier this year, some of the migrant workers complained about living conditions at the Keltic Lodge.

Now they're upset that they will not be back next year, despite having an employment contract for two seasons.

Diego Iraheta, from El Salvador, said the news hit him hard, especially because he had left a job back home for the promise of two years' worth of work in Canada.

"It was harsh, because we had everything planned here and now we have to go back to our countries with two weeks notice," he said. "Back in my country, things are very difficult with crime and work. It's not very easy to get a job."

The workers' employment agreement covers two tourism seasons between May 15 and Oct. 31.

Two-year contracts not renewed

Iraheta said some workers were even told they might be kept on over the winter and had bought winter clothes to stay in Canada.

But in mid-October, the employer gave the workers two weeks notice that their contracts would end Nov. 1 and not be renewed next year.

"I gave up a good position ... and now I don't have the assurance to even come back for next season, so it's hard. It's very sad," Iraheta said.

Doug Breen, vice-president with GolfNorth Properties, which manages the lodge and the nearby Highlands Links Golf Course for Parks Canada, said the property owner is doing work on the road that leads to the lodge and with the road being closed intermittently, it was difficult to take bookings next year.

Given that, it made sense to schedule the deferred maintenance on the old main lodge and cottages at the same time.

"It wasn't really the way we'd planned on doing this, but sometimes the stars line up and when they line up, you act," Breen said.

The company has renovated several buildings over the last couple of years, including Ceilidh Hall, Stanley Thompson House, Corson House and the Arduaine Restaurant.

Breen said the road work is at a narrow point on the property that separates the main lodge and cottages from the rest of the facilities, so the road closure presented an opportunity to get the renovations finished with the least amount of interruption.

The work will mean the loss of half of the resort's capacity for dining and accommodations.

The lodge still has its original heating system and has never had air conditioning installed and it needs all kinds of other work, Breen said.

"Once you get through the things that absolutely have to be done and get to the nice-to-haves, we're already into the tens of millions of dollars, so it's going to be a massive project," Breen said.

'Huge effect on staff'

GolfNorth is in talks with Parks Canada to determine the scope of the project and who will pay for it, he said.

Meanwhile, the company tried but was unsuccessful in finding jobs for the migrant workers at its other properties elsewhere in Canada, Breen said.

"It's absolutely going to have a huge effect on staff and we had to decide early on do we keep the folks from Cape Breton employed or do we keep the temporary foreign workers employed, so we think our responsibility is to the folks from Cape Breton first."

For the second consecutive year, the resort will be open through the winter to take advantage of traffic at the nearby Destination Cape Smokey ski hill.

Breen said business wasn't great last year, because the hill was not fully open, but he said GolfNorth was pleased anyway and is looking forward to future four-season openings.

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