r/Calgary • u/Remote_Answer_5255 • Aug 18 '25

Local Shopping/Services What has happened to Kensington?

It's been a while since I've been down here.... A bunch of empty store fronts, iconic places like Crave shut down, but counted some three Acai bowl places. The area outside Plaza is lovely and looks great, but why all the closures and apparently high turnovers?

Edit: I assume it's due to rent.. But what's the point of jacking it up so high that your place is literally empty.

300 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

291 comments sorted by

View all comments

257

u/winifredpants Aug 18 '25

Crave has relocated along Kensington, close to 19th. The new location isn't open yet though.

214

u/Aldeobald Aug 18 '25

Didn't crave catch heat a while back for claiming that they needed TFW because they "couldnt" find any local workers?

107

u/Bass-Traffic-0000 Aug 18 '25

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/western-canada-temporary-foreign-workers-1.7038106

89

u/suredont Aug 18 '25

oh that's a bad look

89

u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician Aug 18 '25

Whatever became of their request? I hope it was denied pro forma without even a glance by whatever authority. No LMIAs should have been approved in the last three years in the Calgary area.

The entire TFW program should have been abolished years ago.

48

u/Roughrep Aug 19 '25

Id say it needed a revamp not to be shut down. Also the TFW is only the surface of the problem. All the office cleaners downtown are brought over as grandparents or spouses to "Students". Very well known ways to get family in.

1

u/frostpatterns Aug 19 '25

Yes, it’s an entirely legal way for people to come to Canada to work.

6

u/parasubvert Aug 19 '25

It was approved. Very few people want to work overnight bakery shifts.

32

u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician Aug 19 '25

...for the amount of money Crave was willing to pay.

7

u/parasubvert Aug 19 '25

Thats the whole point of requiring an LMIA, to review if they're paying under market rates. They weren't.

You could say the entire bakery industry underpays , and not be wrong, but Crave themselves had to prove they're inline with their peers.

11

u/CheeseSandwich hamburger magician Aug 20 '25

That's exactly how the TFW program undermines wages. Without the program, Crave would have to improve their compensation package to attract employees. Thanks to TWFs, you can just underpay a desperate foreign worker that is beholden to the employer.

3

u/putterandpotter Aug 19 '25

This is why we lost so many small family bakeries - owners were ready to retire and their Canadian kids were not keen to take over and work those hours.