Some Okanagan Valley ski resorts scrambling to find enough staff for the winter

Ongoing staffing challenges in the Okanagan Valley are now hitting ski resorts, as they prep for the upcoming season.

Apex Mountain Resort General Manager James Shalman said that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find good staff.

“This year is no exception. Last year, we had a job fair where I needed to hire about 150 staff, I had less than 20 show up to our job fair, which is pretty concerning,” he said.

“You're trying to figure out how the heck are you going to run a ski resort on such few staff. We ended up figuring it out last year. I’m pretty nervous about this year again.”

That sentiment was echoed by Big White Senior Vice President at Big White Michael J. Ballingall.

“It's the biggest issue that we all face in the tourism industry collectively. Can't find enough cooks, can't find enough back of house prep cooks, dishwashers, line cooks, can't find enough hospitality staff,” he said.

“It is tougher than it's ever been, but we're trying to find solutions.”

Silverstar is an exception, as Chantelle Deacon, communications and sponsorship manager for SilverStar Mountain Resort, said they’re on track for staffing and don't see any issues coming.

“Every single year, our seasonal staff are usually a lot of different people coming from Australia and New Zealand and Europe and kind of around the world. And those are the people that are the lifties and working in our restaurants,” she added. “And there's still a lot of local people as well that come up. But obviously, we need to hire from overseas in order to fill the roles.”

Shalman said Apex needs to hire 150 staff again this year, and it has been tough.

“I just want to appeal to people on a level where I don't want people to miss out on an opportunity,” he said.

“We have lots of positions open and it's just such a fun place to work. If you think that you know you want a job where you're actually playing for a living. The ski industry is definitely one to take a look at.”

Big White is also battling with finding accommodations for workers. While the resort has built hundreds of beds worth of staff accommodations in recent years, it has not been enough.

“We're all feeling the pinch but it's a very active community. We communicate with each other and you know we've had some success with finding beds in the Kelowna area for example for Big White and silver star in Vernon and sun peaks in Kamloops,” Ballingall said.

Apex has limited staff accommodations available, which are often reserved for staff that are coming from overseas or arriving last minute in the area without a vehicle and any connections.

“The vacation homes have really gone up in value. So the amount of availability that we have for staff in houses up at Apex has been greatly reduced. And the reason being is that people can get so much more now for a nightly room rental than they could pre-COVID,” Shalman said.

Availability in turn is not there for their staff, as far as monthly rates go.

Shalman has found a solution with the Waterfront Inn, which has agreed to provide preferred rates to Apex employees since winter is a slower season for their hotel.

“We've connected with them and they have availability that will help us out with our staffing needs.”

SilverStar has its staff set up with housing accommodation options at the resorts, along with rentals available and hotels in the city.

However, they said they are always accepting job applications.

“So if anyone wants to apply, they can apply at [email protected] or look online on our website for jobs.”

Apex will be hosting its own job fair at the Penticton Lakeside Resort on November 2, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for all positions, full-time or part-time.

“Honestly, it's just a fun job. People are excited to be there. Essentially, they're vacating for the day,” Shalman said, adding that all employees get a free season pass.

“I came 22 years ago, just for one winter season and obviously 22 years later, I'm still here. There's something about working at a ski resort.”

But if positions aren’t filled, Shalman said they will find a way to keep running.

“We'll have staff, I mean if anything, we'll have to get a little creative with it,” he added.

Keep an eye out for the job fair up at Big White this season or check out their current job openings page.