Hospitality Management Students Take Center Stage at the Ontario Hospitality Conference
HLOs: 
In early October, the Ontario Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association (ORHMA) hosted its second-annual Ontario Hospitality Conference at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel and Suites in Richmond Hill. The two-day event brought food service and hospitality leaders together to gain insights into key topics affecting the industry.
During the morning session Understanding the Industry’s Labour Needs and Attracting and Keeping Future Talent in Hospitality, a panel of experts took center stage. Among them was Jessica Carrera, a second-year Hospitality - Hotel and Restaurant Operations Management student. Jessica, the voice representing Ontario's secondary students, joined other distinguished panellists from The Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), and Deloitte Human Capital Consulting/Workforce Transformation Consumer Lead. Together, they examined labour needs and discussed strategies to attract and develop future talent in hospitality.
Jessica shared her perspective where she advocated for paid internships, work-life balance, mental-health support and compensation stating “We want to see leaders mentor students and we want to see leaders as guest speakers at our schools. Give students hope that they can achieve your position one day and pay students for the work they’re doing. Many students have families and need to pay rent, so anything helps.”
"Having Jessica here has been an eye-opener for all of us," mentioned Mike Foster from Deloitte. “Our commitment at HAC is to highlight those voices more often.”
Additionally, post-graduate students Mahit Pupapara and Mariana Vanegas Araujo played pivotal roles at the conference, contributing to the setup, registration, and fostering networking opportunities over the course of two full days. Tony Elenis, President and CEO of ORHMA, and Humber PAC member, along with Fatima Finnegan, Vice President of Workforce Initiatives and Industry Relations, expressed immense gratitude for the contributions made by these students.
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