Tourism Counts – March 9, 2022  

Recently, I've spent much time discussing tourism's role as a major economic driver during the Tourism Industry Association of Canada's (TIAC's) annual Hill Days advocacy initiative. I met with more than 60 parliamentarians across all party lines to educate them on the critical issues affecting the industry and on our organization's goal of rebuilding the $105 billion industry by 2026.

I encourage you to read about the priority areas and related recommendations in our pre budget submission here. 

To raise our collective voice, we have written a template letter for you to send to your MP in support of our budget recommendations. Please find all of the details here.  

I am happy to say that last week comes with many restrictions being lifted. All good steps in the right direction, but still not enough to convince international visitors to choose Canada again in large numbers. We continue to meet with officials to stress the need to lift these additional barriers, and to change the narrative around travel. I was vocal in a press conference earlier this month around unnecessary testing at the border and the barriers this creates for our industry, and I continue to share this message with media.  

Please reach out with any comments or questions on our advocacy work at [email protected].

TIAC Advocacy Update  

Earlier this month, TIAC submitted our pre-budget recommendations to the federal government. This report outlines TIAC’s key priority areas to get your businesses and our industry back to the economic powerhouse we were pre pandemic.

There are several assistance programs in support of businesses that we believe could be improved and/or modified to better meet the needs of operators in tourism, and better position the industry for faster growth. And, new financial support is needed in key priority areas. We outlined 16 recommendations for financial supports.

The recovery of the tourism industry in Canada largely hinges on addressing the significant labour shortages that currently exist. This issue is complex, and one that will require a concerted effort and close collaboration between private- and public-sector partners across all levels of government to effectively deal with. We are working closely with Tourism HR Canada on this issue and outlined three recommendations for the labour shortage challenge.

Lastly, key to kick-starting the recovery of Canada’s travel economy rests on a number of factors that have a direct bearing on travellers’ perception. These include updating the current narrative used by government around travel, eliminating barriers to travel, and correcting the current perception both international and domestic travellers now have about travelling to and from Canada.

In many countries around the world, Canada is now perceived as closed for tourism business and/or too complicated to travel to with all its requirements. To enable the tourism industry to more effectively plan for its recovery from the pandemic, we outlined two recommendations.

Read the full submission here.

How can you help? We have drafted a template letter for you to send to your MP supporting our recommendations. Please download the letter here, and don’t forget to copy Madison Simmons, [email protected]. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Madison Simmons, Director of Government Affairs, at [email protected].

The Coalition of the Hardest Hit Businesses is launching a new awareness campaign calling on the Government of Canada to take immediate action to save the tourism industry in Canada, which was the first hit by the pandemic and will be the last to recover. Together with its coalition partners, TIAC is urgently calling on the government to remove barriers at the border, maintain and extend the Tourism and Recovery Hospitality Program (THRP) support program, and help the sector attract the workforce it needs to recover.

Help us help you. Visit the coalition's website today to take action! The future of the tourism industry in Canada - and the success of your business - depends on it.

TIAC in the Media 

Yesterday in Toronto, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, celebrated International Women’s Day by announcing the Women Entrepreneurship Loan Fund, the next phase of the $6-billion Women Entrepreneurship Strategy. The Fund will allocate funding to not-for-profits with existing loan programs to enable them to provide additional affordable financing to women entrepreneurs, particularly for start-ups, under-represented groups or sole proprietorships that experience more difficulty in accessing financing.

Last month, the Government of Canada announced a series of adjustments to the current border measures, representing the beginning of a phased easing of travel restrictions. As of February 28, 2022, some of the adjustments include changes to pre-entry testing, on-arrival testing, and the ArriveCAN mobile app. Visit here for additional information and download a free guide to border measures here.

Please visit our COVID-19 page for more information on travel policies and available support programs.