A Vancouver barbershop owner is pleading with the public and with the government, as some of his employees are facing the reality of having to leave the country.
Angelo Khoshaba is the founder of Regal Grooming Lounge, and he put out an impassioned message on social media earlier this week about the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program.
“Some of our incredible barbers are facing something deeply unfair — and it’s happening quietly, without the attention it deserves,” the video caption reads.
“These are professional tradespeople that earn good wages and pay taxes like everyone else,” Khoshaba says in the video.
“We are facing a shortage of professionally skilled barbers in B.C.,” he added.
That’s why Khoshaba began recruiting internationally. In the video, he notes that due to government changes in the program, they began punishing the bad actors, but also individuals like his employees who have worked hard and stayed away from trouble.
Four of his top workers have been informed that they need to leave, without having received an update on their extension applications
We went to Regal Grooming Lounge at 415 Hornby St. to gather more details about the situation Khoshaba is facing. Four employees face the risk of being forced out of Canada, and they’ve worked at Regal for two to three years.
They’re not just employees, they’re crucial members of the Regal community, all of whom have large client bases. One of them has started a barber academy within Regal.
Khoshaba used to be in the restaurant business. He wanted to do something different in the barbershop space, though, something unique. He wanted to create a place that provided an immersive and personable experience. From that idea, Regal Grooming Lounge was born in 2017. He told Daily Hive that Regal has been highly successful and even visited a trade show in Las Vegas last year.
One challenging aspect to build was the company culture, in an industry where many barbers consider themselves artists in a highly competitive scene. But they’ve been able to create a solid culture that is also at risk.
The motto on the website is “It’s All About The Experience,” and you can even get a drink with your cut. Even when you walk in, you feel a lively energy that feels unique compared to other barbershops in the city.
“The biggest problem we have now is if I lose these four barbers, it’s not just four barbers.”
Each of the barbers who Regal runs the risk of losing has their client base, which means hundreds to thousands of clients. As a business, he doesn’t just need to replace his employees; he also has to replace all of those clients.
A crisis for the Vancouver barbershop
@RegalGrooming/Instagram
Over the past year, numerous changes have been implemented in the TFW program. According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, this includes new hiring caps, wage adjustments, and other changes.
Hiring employees through the TFW program wasn’t necessarily a walk in the park. It involved a financial investment and a primarily digital vetting process, including Zoom interviews.
According to Khoshaba’s understanding of the program, if TFW employees fulfill all the requirements after two years, they can apply for an extension and potentially stay longer or even apply for permanent residency. Khoshaba’s employees applied for extensions last year but have not received a response and have already been given deadlines to leave.
The potential to become permanent residents in Canada was one of the factors that attracted employees who faced the risk of losing their jobs at Regal.
“They came here because it was an opportunity. They left their family, their friends, their neighbourhoods.”
Since becoming members of the community, they’ve established deep roots and links in Canada, and some have families. All of these affected employees have also paid into services like employment insurance.
“Two of them fell in love with people here. They want to have their life in Canada.”
The silence has been defeating.
“I was called a trusted employer. As a trusted employer, my application would take four to six weeks to be processed. It’s been over a year. Zero. Radio silence. Nothing.”
What happens if Khoshaba does lose these employees?
“I’ll definitely go in the red for a while until I find ways to replace them,” he said.
One of his employees has a 13-year-old kid. Their family doesn’t want to go back to the Philippines. They like life in Canada and have worked hard to establish and integrate themselves into society, embracing Canadian values.
Khoshaba is frustrated that the Canadian government has applied a blanket approach to this situation. Instead of weeding out the bad actors and folks who aren’t contributing in a meaningful way, “they threw the baby with the bathwater,” he remarked.
We asked if there has been any communication with the government, but the change in leadership has left some gaps as new MPs are being oriented. Khoshaba feels they’re too busy to help him out, and it’s beginning to erode his trust in the government.
“We are trying to get the word out that something has to be done.”
Daily Hive is attempting to contact the relevant Canadian government agencies to obtain an answer on behalf of Regal and will provide a follow-up once we receive a response.
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