For workers like Edwin Wilson, latest restrictions mean weeks of uncertainty

On a good day, the kitchen at the Johnny Farina restaurant in downtown Ottawa typically has between eight to 10 workers preparing fresh Italian food.

But with new COVID-19 measures now in effect in Ontario, the kitchen will be a lot less busy as staffing has been cut back dramatically.

"Our kitchen is only able to pay three guys," said Edwin Wilson, a line cook at the Elgin Street Italian eatery.

Across Ontario, restaurants, bars and other businesses that serve food must now limit themselves to takeout and outdoor dining. It's one of several new measures meant to blunt the surge of COVID-19 cases fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The Ontario government says it hopes the restrictions, which came into effect at 12:01 a.m. this morning, only remain in place until Jan. 26.

Rebecca Gordon, an Ontario-based spokesperson for the Canadian Restaurant Workers Coalition, which advocates for employees in the hospitality sector, said industry members aren't so sure.

"We've seen these arbitrary dates of when things are supposed to be better and people are supposed to get back to work, but very rarely does that end up happening," Gordon said. "So people are very pessimistic and are concerned that it's going to get pushed back."

With indoor dining off the table, front-of-house staff are at risk of being laid off, while kitchen staff are more likely to see their hours cut back, Gordon said. 

"There's just so much unpredictability with takeout," she said. "It's really difficult to be able to have any kind of stability in your job and be able to make money because there's just so much unknown as to when you're going to be able to get hours and how many hours those will be."

Hours cut, friends laid off  

Wilson said as Johnny Farina shifts to takeout, his hours have been cut in half. Three of his work friends have already been laid off.

"They all want to work, but there is nothing going on."

Wilson said he still has outstanding student loans to pay off. He's preparing himself for a shutdown lasting up to two months. 

"It's going to affect a lot of people," he said. 

Financial supports have been available for workers, including the now-folded Canada Emergency Response Benefit.

Late last month, the federal government opened applications for the new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB). 

But the weekly relief of $300 under the latter program doesn't stretch far enough, Gordon said. 

"That's impossible for restaurant workers to live off of and make ends meet," she said. "Many have been laid off in this most recent round, and they're really unsure of how they're possibly going to be able to afford rent, their medications or even just putting food on the table for their families."

Businesses in Ontario can also apply to a new provincial program to help cover the cost of property taxes and energy bills. 

On Monday, the province said it's exploring options for "further targeted and necessary supports for businesses and workers."