ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE CANADIAN RECREATION INDUSTRY - STUDY RELEASED
The study undertaken by the The Portage Group Inc. and Parcel Economic Inc. on behalf of the RV Dealers Association of Canada and Canadian Recreational Vehicle Association, in 2023, revealed that approximately 2.1 million (or 14% of) Canadian households own an RV. This is up approximately 3% since 2019.
Post-purchase spending by the Canadian households that own an RV contributes to the economy through two expenditure categories:
Non-travel RV expenditures are those costs associated with RV ownership and include insurance, storage, and accessories. RV owners spent an estimated $2.7 billion in these three categories in Canada in 2022. RV owners also spend on maintenance, however the value of this is included in the retail sales and service subsector expenditures.
RV tourism related expenditures are costs associated with using the RV. The study reveals that the 2.1 million RV owners took an estimated 6.3 million RV trips in Canada in 2022. Further to this, Canadians who rented RVs took an estimated 1.3 million trips in Canada bringing the total to 7.7 million RV trips. When accounting for the length of trips and travel party size, these trips resulted in a total of 72.2-million-person trip nights. With an estimated $10.3 billion in spending from these trips, RV tourism is the largest contributor to the overall impact by a significant margin.
In addition to the RV industry, the 2023 study also analyzed the economic impact of the camping sector. Like the RV industry, the camping sector is a significant contributor to the Canadian economy. In total, the camping sector generated an estimated 83,600 jobs and delivered $9.8 billion in added value to the Canadian economy from an initial expenditure of $12.2 billion in 2022.
Of the two major components measured, camping trips (tourism) is by far the biggest accounting for 84% of the total value added to the Canadian economy. The study results indicate that 4.4 million Canadian households took at least one overnight camping trip in 2022. Moreover, Canadians spent a total of 93.3-million-person trips nights on camping trips in 2022. Further, these trips resulted in an estimated $9.8 billion in initial spending.
With RV owners reporting that over three-quarters (77%) of their RV trips are to a campground, both RVing and camping are clearly very much linked together. Combining the RV industry and camping sector generated an estimated 141,400 jobs and delivered $16.2 billion in added value to the Canadian economy from an initial expenditure of $19.8 billion in 2022.
Permission to publish this summary of the report granted by the RV Dealers Association of Canada and the Canadian Recreational Vehicle Association.
