For those in the restaurant industry, there’s relief at coming back but anxiety about what’s ahead

Now that we've entered Step 2 in Ontario's reopening and COVID-19 restrictions have loosened on personal care services and larger outdoor gatherings, a spotlight has started to shine on the hospitality industry and what this new normal will look like for them.

While outdoor dining (which has been allowed since the province entered Step 1 on June 11) brought some relief to those in the industry who've been in a rather precarious situation, for others it has triggered a lot of mixed emotions, ranging from general discomfort to stress, as larger concerns continue to loom.

From anxiety and overall burnout, to concerns about sales, costs and the risk of further restrictions to come with new variants, there are issues to consider as individuals rush out to enjoy the creature comforts of a cold pint on a neighbourhood patio as vaccination rates rise.

A new online survey conducted by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies shows more than half of Canadians have reported feeling anxious about returning to what life was like before the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently 41 per cent feel some level of anxiety, sharing that they support requiring people to show proof of COVID vaccination to participate in various activities.

Things are very different now," says Alexis Kronwald-deBruyn, who works as a server in Toronto. Not only do we not have a budget for hosts and support staff, but we have to fill in the gaps to make it all work. We don't have the budget and there is no one to do the work anymore because everyone has found a better way to make money without the same stress of working in a restaurant."

Restaurants Canada has reported that, since March 2020, nearly 10,000 restaurants have closed, and for those who have been able to make it out alive the margins are razor thin.

Kristen Daigle, a beverage director who lives in Hamilton, shares that the effects of the rolling lockdowns have left some staff skittish. Opening a restaurant is an incredibly difficult, high-stress thing to do and we've all done it three times in the last calendar year. That's a lot, in terms of organization, in terms of training staff and everyone's doing the best that they can to make it as seamless as possible."

Daigle also adds that while she and many others are excited to get back to work, some have moved on, which means restaurants are facing a labour shortage since the pandemic essentially forced people out of jobs. A lot of my friends who were working (in the industry) have just decided to leave for something that's more stable," she says. Better pay, weekends off and regular hours as just some of the reasons that people have decided not to look back.

This past year, Canadian hospitality workers and Canadians as a whole experienced what many are referring to as collective trauma. I'm definitely hearing that tension is very high and stress is very high. Anxiety is obviously part of that, but I think it's a layered experience," says Hassel Aviles, executive director of Not 9 to 5, a global non-profit focused on mental health advocacy for the food service sector.

Aviles notes there is still much uncertainty in the industry, giving workers, owners and operators anxiety. People have invested tens of thousands of dollars into equipment, staff, labour or training to just have to pack it all up - it's so traumatizing to have to lose so much. Although people are excited to reopen I think there is a lot of fear right now and fear drives a lot of other emotions."

Just this year, Not 9 to 5 received funding to create a Foodservice & Hospitality Mental Health Survey, which will showcase a more comprehensive picture of mental health and substance abuse in the restaurant and hospitality industry. To date, 700 hospitality workers from all over North America have responded, with 85 per cent of those from within Canada. Currently, 86 per cent of the respondents have said they are experiencing burnout and 61 per cent said their mental health issues intensified due to the pandemic.

It's been a year of not just a global pandemic, but social and racial reckoning - the murder of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement, the Indigenous residential schools tragedy, the attack on the United States Capitol building - which makes it even harder to entirely shut ourselves off from what's happening in the world.

Trauma shows up differently for everyone," Aviles says. The reason I bring this up is because in restaurants they have often been extremely negligent of workplace mental health and, in my opinion, completely neglected that it's been there. They can't ignore that any longer."

After the pandemic ends, the effects of this trauma may linger in the workforce for years. Lisa Quigley, an events manager in Toronto, says she would like to see more restaurant owners work on running not just a physically safe workplace but a psychologically safe one.

Things have been tough and I know we're all excited to be here. But then you realize a lot of us didn't live through the same pandemic," she continues, noting that people have different life experiences, family issues or other things to deal with. I think it's so important to create a healthy work environment because everyone wants to go back to normal, but normal was not really good for so many people."

Despite the devastation of the pandemic, those in the hospitality sector an opportunity for growth: to have individuals paid properly across the board and to set up more mental health resources, for instance, things Aviles and other advocates have been requesting for years.

You have to pay people at least a livable wage, even if they're a dishwasher, it doesn't matter," Kronwald-deBruyn says. There are still people who need to pay their bills and need to be able to survive at the end of the day."

Until then, when you go out to your local, try to be kind and patient with your server. Quigley says.

I wish people would realize that dining out is a privilege, not a right. Even pre-pandemic, restaurant experiences for some are a luxury. There's a reason why people love it: it's special and that's why I love hospitality.

There's so many working parts to create that experience that everyone's looking for when they dine out. Just acknowledging that the people serving you are human and deserve to be treated with respect and that, like anything, the cost of things might even go up."

Correction - July 2, 2021- This article has been updated to correct Lisa Quigley's job title.