For many locals and visitors to Revelstoke, La Baguette is a cozy spot for a coffee and time with friends.
For Carlos "Charly" Mazzoco Espinosa, it was the saving grace that helped him move to Canada and start a new life.
Charly, 40 and originally from Coacalco de Berrioz谩bal, Mexico, was an entrepreneur from a young age. At 14, he was running his own car-washing business with his best friend Alan, supported by his father, Clemente Espinosa, and mother, Flor Mazzoco.
"He always taught me" 鈥� Charly makes a chopping motion with his hands 鈥� "responsibility. Honour your work," he remembered of his father, who he said was where his drive for opportunity came from.
Charly and his wife, Alita N煤帽ez, who he met travelling in Mexico's Lacand贸n jungle, also started a farmers' market when they moved to Teopisca in Mexico's Chiapas state, convincing the mayor of the economic benefits and potential for attracting visitors. Before leaving the country, Charly arranged a board of directors to ensure the market would live on.
After Charly completed culinary school in Switzerland, his first job was working for Royal Caribbean on the GTV Serenade of the Seas' cruises up and down the West Coast.
Living back in Mexico together, in 2017, they launched Me Late Chocolate Tienda Local, preparing and selling their own sourdough, coffee-based drinks, and pizza. Over several years, their business partnered with other local producers like single-origin organic coffee brand La Vieja Molienda Caf茅 and natural store La Casita Azul. But, as political tensions and organized crime began to rise in their region, Charly and N煤帽ez started to look abroad, including to Canada.
Despite his resum茅 and experience, without a work visa, Charly struggled to lock down a job. He recounted sending some 100 cover letters to employers across Canada. Only several responded, and of those, only one business was willing to help him get a work permit.
"Honestly, in that moment we were like, 'Canada is not for us,'" Charly said. "That was the perfect moment for La Baguette to come into the story."
Owners Sonia Ratt茅 and Olivier Dutil happily invited him and N煤帽ez to join their caf茅's staff in 2021, and sponsored them to get a work permit. It helped that Ratt茅 said she was seeking longer-term staff that year, and had a friend who knew N煤帽ez from France and recommended Charly.
Charly and N煤帽ez were grateful, and upon arrival in Revelstoke, they were hosted at Ratt茅's farm in Nakusp while they got settled. Over the next two-and-a-half years living in this new community, Charly ascended to shift supervisor at La Baguette.
"For me as an employee, it was inspirational," he said, describing the experience La Baguette gave him as a "real baker."
He raved about the dozen different varieties of bread he learned to make in Revelstoke, from baguettes to croissants.
"Back in our village, we were making 20 to 40 loaves a day," Charly said, but after starting at La Baguette under Ratt茅's tutelage, he was helping make 40 loaves of each variety in a single day.
After those first years in town, he secured his permanent residency (PR) and decided it was time to move on and make space for other newcomers.
"That place is full of stories, man," he remarked about La Baguette. "The way that they helped us is the way that they help other people."
With a whopping 75 employees between three stores, Ratt茅 has intentionally hired not just Latinos such as Charly, but Filipinos, Peruvians, and Japanese staff who are new to Revelstoke and sometimes also Canada.
"I usually try to (have) diversity because otherwise, it gets too intense," she explained.
Until 2025, she utilized a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire foreign workers, which permits them to visit Canada on a two-year work permit. This is also how La Baguette employed Charly.
Unfortunately, this hiring system ended for La Baguette last fall due to the federal government choosing to no longer process low-wage LMIAs in communities with unemployment rates of at least six per cent.
"I get why they changed it, but it's been really hard for us," Ratt茅 said, adding that foreign workers should be permitted longer PRs. "It should be like, 'you work here four or five years, now you deserve your PR.'"
Still, she's happy she got to help Charly come to Revelstoke.
"He's got a big heart and a big community of feeling," she said, likening his and other Latinos' warmth to the Francophone culture she and Dutil were raised in over in Quebec.
Charly appreciates why many employers aren't as trusting as La Baguette when it comes to recruiting internationally, given the risk of prospective employees pulling out after a business has invested time and money in the hiring. However, this risk hasn't stopped Ratt茅.
"Honestly, I don't blame (other employers)," Charly said, acknowledging the potentially high risk. "But La Baguette just keeps trusting" and helping people come to Canada, he added.
After leaving La Baguette, he spent nine months running the rails for Canadian Pacific as a train conductor, then worked at the Downie Timber sawmill. Last March, Charly jumped into his newest position as coordinator for the Revelstoke Business and Visitor Information Centre. He said working for the Revelstoke Chamber of Commerce has been a great opportunity for him to help improve the community, including for his Latino community.
Charly still remembers the warmth he was met with when he first arrived in Revelstoke. One local drove him two hours to Vernon just to set up his SIN and B.C. health coverage.
"That's why I think it's important to continue to give back to the people who are new to the community," he said, adding he strives to show fellow newcomers that "hey guys, you're not alone. There's a big Latino community, and many of us came here with the same situation."
He's now working with the Latino community to create a support network for newcomers, providing assistance with visas, SIN, housing, employment, and more. Charly said that strengthening Revelstoke's Latino community doesn't mean to promote division in the wider population. Rather, this kind of unity among local Latin Americans can help not just them but other cultural groups as well to succeed and flourish.
"I have been so happy in Revy that working for the Chamber of Commerce is the cherry on the cake," Charly later wrote by email. "I am so grateful to Canada and its people, I will do my best to give back not just to Revelstoke but to all of Canada, 'cause Canada opened its doors for me and my family."
