Banff, Lake Louise businesses say TFW program changes will lead to closures [Video]

Every year, thousands of tourists flock to the town of Banff and the nearby hamlet of Lake Louise to stay in hotels, take in the scenery and spend money at local stores and restaurants — all staffed by a mix of Canadians and people from across the globe.

Walk into any building in the tourist towns and you’re as likely to be greeted by a local as you are someone from Australia, Asia or South America.

But now, the Alberta mountain communities are bracing for labour shortages following changes to the federal government’s temporary foreign worker program.

“It looks like not being able to meet demand, if we have chronic labour shortages like we did pre-pandemic, post-pandemic — there’s specific positions we’ve always seen labour shortages in and we’ll see it in an even broader scope across the industry, ” said Karlie Fleury with Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association.

Doncath Holdings Ltd. owns …