Latest news with #ThePintPublicHouse
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Amid job losses nationwide, Toronto pub owner says he's received 250 resumes but can't afford to hire
After recent data shows tens of thousands of jobs were lost in Canada last month, one restaurant owner in Toronto says he's received dozens of resumes but cannot afford to hire any more people amid economic uncertainty. The Canadian economy lost more than 40,000 jobs in July, according to data from Statistics Canada released on Friday. The unemployment rate remained steady but at a multi-year high level of 6.9 per cent, the agency said. The hardest hit sector was the information, culture and recreation industry, which includes restaurants. 29,000 jobs were lost in the sector last month. Cesar Mesen is the owner and operating partner of The Pint Public House, located in downtown Toronto near John Street and Front Street W. Cesar Mesan, who owns The Pint Public House in downtown Toronto, says the pub typically does a hiring blitz of around 40 to 50 people starting in April, when baseball season begins. But this summer, he said his business hired a fraction of that. "If we post for one position, we maybe get 90, 100 candidates," he said. Fewer customers are coming out and sales are shrinking, Mesen said. Currently, he said he has received around 200 to 250 resumes that he does not have jobs for. "I cannot just hire people because I feel bad for them … right now, we don't have a need to hire," he said. Job losses last month mainly among young people According to the latest Statistics Canada data, the decline last month was largely driven by job losses among young people, aged between 15 to 24. WATCH | The CNE received a record 50K applications this summer for 5,000 jobs: Mesen said most of the applications he's received are from young people. In the hospitality industry, where many people tend to get their first jobs or summer jobs, there are not a lot of vacant positions, he said. "It's really sad because those are very important, formative years where you come and work into a place and you learn people skills, social skills, you learn to work as a team," he said. He says the pub has been operating under uncertainty for the past several months amidst U.S. tariffs. A lot of the equipment he needs is from the U.S. and is not manufactured in Canada. "We truly don't know where this is going or what is going to happen," he said. Plans to grow The Pint through expansion or new programs and initiatives are currently on hold, he said. Tariffs latest in challenging few years for businesses: expert Simon Gaudreault is the chief economist and vice president of research for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The federation has surveyed its members —- small and medium sized businesses in Canada — every month since 2009. The number of businesses who have said they want to add staff has been below seasonable norms since the start of 2025, compared to the same period last year or in pre-pandemic years, he said. Alongside this, he said the number of businesses that have indicated they want to reduce staff has been higher so far this year than in comparable time periods for previous years. As Canada continues dealing with U.S. tariffs, Gaudreault said businesses are dealing with great uncertainty. "Business owners will be careful [and] will try to make sure they keep a certain room to maneuver for the next few months," he said. "Unfortunately that can translate into a hiring freeze." He called the trade war the latest chapter in a series of very tough chapters for businesses. "Before that, it was the inflation and the supply chain issues, and before that it was the pandemic," he said. "Certainly for a lot of businesses right now, you're probably not in a situation where you have a lot of reserves built in." But measures to cut expenses and improve cash flow in the short-term can hurt growth for a business in the long run, said David Gens, founder and CEO of Merchant Growth, which provides credit to thousands of small businesses. He said fear and uncertainty around tariffs seem to be causing a defensive stance among business owners his company deals with. Looking at the medium-term, Gens said businesses may need to look at finding new customers in other locations and retooling their supply chain. "All of that takes investment and a lot of effort," he said.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Amid job losses nationwide, Toronto pub owner says he's received 250 resumes but can't afford to hire
After recent data shows tens of thousands of jobs were lost in Canada last month, one restaurant owner in Toronto says he's received dozens of resumes but cannot afford to hire any more people amid economic uncertainty. The Canadian economy lost more than 40,000 jobs in July, according to data from Statistics Canada released on Friday. The unemployment rate remained steady but at a multi-year high level of 6.9 per cent, the agency said. The hardest hit sector was the information, culture and recreation industry, which includes restaurants. 29,000 jobs were lost in the sector last month. Cesar Mesen is the owner and operating partner of The Pint Public House, located in downtown Toronto near John Street and Front Street W. Cesar Mesan, who owns The Pint Public House in downtown Toronto, says the pub typically does a hiring blitz of around 40 to 50 people starting in April, when baseball season begins. But this summer, he said his business hired a fraction of that. "If we post for one position, we maybe get 90, 100 candidates," he said. Fewer customers are coming out and sales are shrinking, Mesen said. Currently, he said he has received around 200 to 250 resumes that he does not have jobs for. "I cannot just hire people because I feel bad for them … right now, we don't have a need to hire," he said. Job losses last month mainly among young people According to the latest Statistics Canada data, the decline last month was largely driven by job losses among young people, aged between 15 to 24. WATCH | The CNE received a record 50K applications this summer for 5,000 jobs: Mesen said most of the applications he's received are from young people. In the hospitality industry, where many people tend to get their first jobs or summer jobs, there are not a lot of vacant positions, he said. "It's really sad because those are very important, formative years where you come and work into a place and you learn people skills, social skills, you learn to work as a team," he said. He says the pub has been operating under uncertainty for the past several months amidst U.S. tariffs. A lot of the equipment he needs is from the U.S. and is not manufactured in Canada. "We truly don't know where this is going or what is going to happen," he said. Plans to grow The Pint through expansion or new programs and initiatives are currently on hold, he said. Tariffs latest in challenging few years for businesses: expert Simon Gaudreault is the chief economist and vice president of research for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The federation has surveyed its members —- small and medium sized businesses in Canada — every month since 2009. The number of businesses who have said they want to add staff has been below seasonable norms since the start of 2025, compared to the same period last year or in pre-pandemic years, he said. Alongside this, he said the number of businesses that have indicated they want to reduce staff has been higher so far this year than in comparable time periods for previous years. As Canada continues dealing with U.S. tariffs, Gaudreault said businesses are dealing with great uncertainty. "Business owners will be careful [and] will try to make sure they keep a certain room to maneuver for the next few months," he said. "Unfortunately that can translate into a hiring freeze." He called the trade war the latest chapter in a series of very tough chapters for businesses. "Before that, it was the inflation and the supply chain issues, and before that it was the pandemic," he said. "Certainly for a lot of businesses right now, you're probably not in a situation where you have a lot of reserves built in." But measures to cut expenses and improve cash flow in the short-term can hurt growth for a business in the long run, said David Gens, founder and CEO of Merchant Growth, which provides credit to thousands of small businesses. He said fear and uncertainty around tariffs seem to be causing a defensive stance among business owners his company deals with. Looking at the medium-term, Gens said businesses may need to look at finding new customers in other locations and retooling their supply chain. "All of that takes investment and a lot of effort," he said. Solve the daily Crossword
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Amid job losses nationwide, Toronto pub owner says he's received 250 resumes but can't afford to hire
Social Sharing After recent data shows tens of thousands of jobs were lost in Canada last month, one restaurant owner in Toronto says he's received dozens of resumes but cannot afford to hire any more people amid economic uncertainty. The Canadian economy lost more than 40,000 jobs in July, according to data from Statistics Canada released on Friday. The unemployment rate remained steady but at a multi-year high level of 6.9 per cent, the agency said. The hardest hit sector was the information, culture and recreation industry, which includes restaurants. 29,000 jobs were lost in the sector last month. Cesar Mesen is the owner and operating partner of The Pint Public House, located in downtown Toronto near John Street and Front Street W. Cesar Mesan, who owns The Pint Public House in downtown Toronto, says the pub typically does a hiring blitz of around 40 to 50 people starting in April, when baseball season begins. But this summer, he said his business hired a fraction of that. "If we post for one position, we maybe get 90, 100 candidates," he said. Fewer customers are coming out and sales are shrinking, Mesen said. Currently, he said he has received around 200 to 250 resumes that he does not have jobs for. "I cannot just hire people because I feel bad for them … right now, we don't have a need to hire," he said. Job losses last month mainly among young people According to the latest Statistics Canada data, the decline last month was largely driven by job losses among young people, aged between 15 to 24. WATCH | The CNE received a record 50K applications this summer for 5,000 jobs: The CNE has 5,000 summer jobs to fill. It's received over 50K applications 10 days ago Mesen said most of the applications he's received are from young people. In the hospitality industry, where many people tend to get their first jobs or summer jobs, there are not a lot of vacant positions, he said. "It's really sad because those are very important, formative years where you come and work into a place and you learn people skills, social skills, you learn to work as a team," he said. He says the pub has been operating under uncertainty for the past several months amidst U.S. tariffs. A lot of the equipment he needs is from the U.S. and is not manufactured in Canada. "We truly don't know where this is going or what is going to happen," he said. Plans to grow The Pint through expansion or new programs and initiatives are currently on hold, he said. Tariffs latest in challenging few years for businesses: expert Simon Gaudreault is the chief economist and vice president of research for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The federation has surveyed its members —- small and medium sized businesses in Canada — every month since 2009. The number of businesses who have said they want to add staff has been below seasonable norms since the start of 2025, compared to the same period last year or in pre-pandemic years, he said. Alongside this, he said the number of businesses that have indicated they want to reduce staff has been higher so far this year than in comparable time periods for previous years. As Canada continues dealing with U.S. tariffs, Gaudreault said businesses are dealing with great uncertainty. "Business owners will be careful [and] will try to make sure they keep a certain room to maneuver for the next few months," he said. "Unfortunately that can translate into a hiring freeze." He called the trade war the latest chapter in a series of very tough chapters for businesses. "Before that, it was the inflation and the supply chain issues, and before that it was the pandemic," he said. "Certainly for a lot of businesses right now, you're probably not in a situation where you have a lot of reserves built in." But measures to cut expenses and improve cash flow in the short-term can hurt growth for a business in the long run, said David Gens, founder and CEO of Merchant Growth, which provides credit to thousands of small businesses. He said fear and uncertainty around tariffs seem to be causing a defensive stance among business owners his company deals with. Looking at the medium-term, Gens said businesses may need to look at finding new customers in other locations and retooling their supply chain. "All of that takes investment and a lot of effort," he said.
Toronto Star
28-05-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
‘How long is this going to last?' Small business owners grapple with raising prices amid Trump tariffs
The past couple of months have been filled with uncertainty for Toronto bar owner Cesar Mesen. Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump launched his tariff attack on Canada — and the world — Mesen says the cost of running The Pint Public House has soared. Food prices are up, along with everything from the price of napkins and takeout containers to aluminum beer cans — all hurting Mesen's bottom line. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW While he's been able to talk with suppliers about finding Canadian- or non-U.S.-sourced goods to minimize costs, Mesen warns the bar may eventually need to raise prices customers see on the menu if tariffs don't go away soon. 'Right now what worries us the most,' Mesen says, 'is how long is this going to last and what is going to be the end result.' Mesen is not the only Canadian small business owner grappling with Trump's tariffs, even as the president's daily trade proclamations against friend and foe have slowed in recent weeks. According to data from an April survey of 130 small businesses across Canada conducted by digital financing company Merchant Growth, nearly 40 per cent of businesses in Canada have raised prices due to tariffs. On the bright side, eight in ten of these businesses report passing on only a quarter or less of the added expenses to customers. Merchant Growth's data is in line with the findings of other small business groups. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Canadian Federation of Independent Business surveys of 1,065 and 417 small businesses from March and April found that owners expected to hike customer prices by an average of 3.7 and 3.5 per cent respectively. 'We looked at all industries, from steel manufacturing to transportation and even to discretionary goods and retail,' Joe Conte, chief growth officer at Merchant Growth, said. 'They were seeing a lot of direct impacts.' Thes impacts include the cost of manufacturing goods, particularly those containing aluminum or steel — materials that were slapped with a 25 per cent tariff by Trump back in March. Businesses have also had to deal with the indirect impact of slower supply chains, according to Conte. Together, these impacts present small businesses with the difficult task of bringing in revenue while not turning off customers with jacked prices. 'There is a bit of delicate balance for small businesses,' says Conte, 'trying to protect their existing customer base while still staying profitable.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Besides raising consumer prices, Conte said business owners have tried to mitigate the impact of the tariffs by looking for alternative suppliers — and even new export markets. While Conte acknowledged there has not been recent tariff announcements targeting Canada, he says there is still a lot of uncertainty. 'I'd love to be able to say that we have plateaued,' he says, 'but what we do know is that we have no line of sight as to the level of uncertainty around the tariffs.' Even amid the uncertainty, Mesen said customers at his bar should expect to see the same prices on the menu for the 'foreseeable future,' but that things may change depending on any tariff announcements or if the Canadian economy worsens. 'Passing the cost on to the guests has to be the last choice.'
