For workers like Edwin Wilson, latest restrictions mean weeks of uncertainty

On a good day, thekitchen at the Johnny Farina restaurant in downtown Ottawatypically has between eight to10 workers preparing freshItalian food.

But with new COVID-19 measuresnow in effect in Ontario, the kitchen will be a lot less busy as staffing has been cut back dramatically.

"Our kitchen is only able to pay three guys," saidEdwin Wilson, a line cook at the Elgin Street Italian eatery.

Across Ontario, restaurants, bars and other businesses that serve food must now limit themselves to takeout and outdoor dining. It's one of severalnew measuresmeant to blunt thesurge of COVID-19 cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The Ontario government saysit hopes the restrictions, which came into effect at 12:01 a.m. this morning,only remain in place until Jan. 26.

Rebecca Gordon, an Ontario-based spokesperson for the Canadian Restaurant Workers Coalition, which advocates for employees in the hospitality sector, said industry members aren'tso sure.

"We've seen these arbitrary dates of when things are supposed to be better and people are supposed to get back to work, but very rarely does that end up happening," Gordon said."So people are very pessimistic and are concerned that it's going to get pushed back."

With indoor dining off the table,front-of-house staff are at risk of being laid off, while kitchen staff are more likely to see their hours cut back, Gordon said.

"There's just so much unpredictability with takeout," she said. "It's really difficult tobe able to have any kind of stability in your job and beable to make money because there's just so much unknown as to when you're going to be able to get hours and how many hours those will be."

Hours cut, friends laid off

Wilson said as Johnny Farina shifts to takeout, his hourshave been cut in half.Three of his work friends have already been laid off.

"They all want to work, but there is nothing going on."

Wilson said he still has outstanding student loans to pay off. He's preparing himself for a shutdown lastingup totwomonths.

"It's going to affect a lot of people," he said.

Financial supports have been available for workers, including the now-foldedCanada Emergency Response Benefit.

Late last month,the federal governmentopened applications forthe new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB).

But the weekly relief of $300 under thelatter program doesn't stretch far enough, Gordonsaid.

"That's impossible for restaurant workers to live off of and make ends meet," she said."Many have been laid off in this most recent round, andthey're really unsure of how they're possibly going to be able to afford rent, their medications or even just putting food on the table for their families."

Businesses in Ontario can also apply to a new provincial programto help cover the cost of property taxes and energy bills.

On Monday, the province said it'sexploring options for"further targeted and necessary supports for businesses and workers."