At House of Spice, an Indian restaurant in Summerside, sales are down $20,000 to $30,000 per month since last year, said owner Harneet Brar.
She said that’s largely because the P.E.I. government decided in early 2024 to drastically reduce the number of foreign workers it nominates for permanent residency.
“Last year in February and March, we were busy. Very busy. We had lots of Indian customers and other foreign nationals too, along with the local community,” Brar said.
“There wasn’t any staffing issue. We’d have lots of applications. But since the rules changed, a lot of people moved out of the province.”
In February 2024, the provincial government announced plans to slash the number of foreign workers it would nominate for permanent residency, or PR, by 25 per cent. The largest reduction came in the number of nominations for workers in the sales and service sector.
This month, the federal government also capped P.E.I.’s allotment of nominees to 1,025 this year. In 2024, the province issued just 1,590 nominations out of its allocation of 2,050.
Dozens of workers protested the change for months. Businesses reliant on foreign workers feared they would lose them to other provinces or their home countries after their work permits expired — and that they would not be able to replace them.
It’s really hard for everyone… they are physically, totally tired. But they try to give 100 per cent.— Rupinder Kaur
Brar said that’s just what happened to her restaurant, which lost two full-time staff they haven’t been able to replace.
“I am back here full time covering up front, and my husband is back in the kitchen, covering that position,” she said.
The owner of an Indian restaurant in Summerside says the province’s immigration cuts have led to lost staff and revenue. Now, they’re bracing for another reduction. CBC’s Steve Bruce has more.
While Brar and her husband had plans to open a second — or maybe even a third — location, she said the loss of employees has made running their business more challenging.
“We are here open to close, seven days. So we really have no time outside of the restaurant to do anything else.”
‘Breakdown of our dreams’
The immigration cuts are aimed at slowing population growth and easing the strain on housing and health care, the federal government has said.
But Rupinder Kaur, who moved to Canada in 2022, said she wonders how some businesses will survive without workers like her.
Kaur said she works 60 hours a week at two low-wage jobs, and that most of her co-workers are also from other countries.
“It’s really hard for everyone… they are physically, totally tired. But they try to give 100 per cent,” Kaur said.
“It’s very difficult. But it’s just a hope to continue to survive.”
When it comes to permanent residency, “it’s totally unpredictable,” Kaur said.
“It’s a breakdown of our dreams when government suddenly changes the rules for PR.”
The federal government said its numbers aren’t set in stone and that it may allocate more permanent residency nominations to some provinces.
