Message from the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada on Tourism Week 2019
Canadians are proud of where they live, and this pride is at the heart of Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy .

This strategy began taking shape after Prime Minister Trudeau asked me last summer to build a new strategy that would help create new tourism opportunities and jobs for the middle class.

So I considered in-depth research, struck up an expert advisory council and, most importantly, launched a cross-Canada listening tour to hear directly from Canadians and especially tourism operators and industry leaders.

At every stop, from Gander in Newfoundland and Labrador to Victoria in British Columbia and from Niagara Falls in Ontario to Rankin Inlet in Nunavut, I saw pride in people’s eyes.

And it was clear that this pride fuels a desire to create compelling tourism products and experiences to share with other Canadians—and with the world.
This work, in turn, energizes local economies and provides jobs for middle class families.

Pride also animates the new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy.

Tourism is already a powerful economic engine, supporting one in 10 Canadian jobs. In 2018 we welcomed a record number of international visitors for the second year in a row.

But we know we can do better.

Three out of four visitors to Canada head to Toronto, Montréal or Vancouver. And most visit during the peak summer months.

That’s why this strategy includes the $58.5-million Canadian Experience Fund Canadian Experiences Fund , which will diversify Canadian tourism.

The fund will help develop or enhance tourism products and experiences in five segments: winter and shoulder-season tourism, rural and remote tourism, Indigenous tourism, LGBTQ2 tourism and culinary tourism.

But we know we need to do more. That’s why we’re giving Canadian tourism a stature it’s never had before.

The Government will create a seventh Economic Strategy Table devoted exclusively to tourism. This will be an industry-led body that will tackle tough barriers to growth, like the labour shortage and high domestic travel costs.

The tourism strategy also includes the creation of regional tourism investment groups. Through these groups, the federal government will become a more effective partner to each of the regions, enabling promising products to be developed and ensuring that investments are coherent and congruent.

Your president and CEO, Charlotte Bell, says our “whole-of-government” approach shows that TIAC’s views are being heard “loud and clear.”

I am proud to work with Charlotte and tourism’s many hard-working women and men as we implement this strategy.

I wish you all a great Tourism Week 2019. The future for our sector is bright!

Mélanie Joly
Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie
// PREFERRED PARTNERS
// INDUSTRY PATRONS