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• Tourism share of gross domestic product - Canada (First quarter 2024) 1.59%

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Fueling canada's hosting economy.

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Tourism Performance Indicators

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Source: Statistics Canada, Table 24-10-0055-01

Total overnight arrivals year-to-date (Jun. 2024)

Year-over-Year growth year-to-date (Jun. 2024)

Proportion of 2019 levels year-to-date (Jun. 2024)

Total tourism revenue year-to-date (Q1 2024)

115% proportion of 2019 levels +5% year-over-year growth

Domestic tourism revenue year-to-date (Q1 2024)

121% proportion of 2019 levels +5% year-over-year growth

International tourism revenue year-to-date (Q1 2024)

97% proportion of 2019 levels +7% year-over-year growth

Source: Statistics Canada, National Tourism Indicators

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National Tourism Indicators (NTI)

Detailed information for first quarter 2024.

Record number:

The National Tourism Indicators provide timely information which facilitates ongoing monitoring and analysis of tourism and its related activities in Canada.

Data release - June 26, 2024

Description

Data sources and methodology, data accuracy, documentation.

The National Tourism Indicators (NTI) provide timely information which facilitates ongoing monitoring and analysis of tourism and its related activities in Canada. The NTI cover the domestic supply of tourism commodities (such as transportation, accommodation, food & beverages, recreation & entertainment), the demand for these commodities by Canadian and foreign visitors, and the employment and gross domestic product generated as a result of this demand. The NTI were developed to update the more comprehensive Canadian Tourism Satellite Account on a quarterly and annual basis. The NTI are available about 90 days after the reference quarter. The statistical tables include actual data and percentage changes. Unadjusted data are expressed at current prices while seasonally adjusted data are expressed at constant prices. The NTI can be used in three general ways: a) to assess the current state of tourism in Canada; b) to analyze the development of tourism in Canada in terms of trends and structures; c) to support policy and strategic decisions. The NTI show the relative importance of tourism markets in Canada, what percentage of activity is accounted for by each component of tourism demand, and which components are impacted the most from its growth or decline. The NTI can be used to support research on the trends, cycles and quarterly patterns in various tourism aspects or the industry as a whole. Comparisons can be drawn with other industries or the national economy. The NTI can also be used in the temporal analysis of relationships between different variables and the demand for or supply of tourism goods and services. The data are used by various stakeholders in the field of tourism, e.g. federal and provincial government officials, researchers as well as by college and university professors and students. The data are also used by international organizations (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and World Tourism Organization), journalists and large businesses.

Statistical activity

The Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts provides a conceptually integrated statistical framework for studying the state and behaviour of the Canadian economy. The accounts are centered on the measurement of activities associated with the production of goods and services, the sales of goods and services in final markets, the supporting financial transactions and the resulting wealth positions.

• Additional documentation

Collection period: Three months after the reference quarter

• Economic accounts
• Tourism accounts
• Tourism indicators
• Travel and tourism

Target population

The National Tourism Indicators (NTI) cover the domestic supply of tourism commodities (such as transportation, accommodation, food & beverages, recreation & entertainment), the demand for these commodities by Canadian and foreign visitors, and the employment and GDP generated as a result of this demand. The definition of tourism in the NTI follows that adopted by the World Tourism Organization and the United Nations Statistical Commission: the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for less than a year and for any main purpose (leisure, business or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited.

Instrument design

This methodology does not apply.

Data sources

Data are collected from other Statistics Canada surveys and/or other sources.

There are several main data sources for the National Tourism Indicators (NTI), all originating from Statistics Canada. The Canadian Tourism Satellite Account (CTSA) provides benchmark totals, in current dollars. The CTSA is a biennial product that was first published for reference year 1988. For other years, the supply and use tables are used to calculate annual levels of tourism supply and GDP. Annual levels for employment are calculated using data from the Labour Productivity Database. Demand totals come from the Travel Survey of Residents of Canada (TSRC) and the International Travel Survey (ITS). For years in which supply and use tables are not available, the NTI are based on quarterly estimates of various indicators. Quarterly indicators for tourism supply are based on selected components of consumer spending from the Income and Expenditure Accounts and on GDP for selected industries from the measures of monthly GDP by industry accounts. The quarterly tourism expenditure data follow quarterly patterns from the TSRC and the ITS. The quarterly tourism employment data are based on the Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours. Tourism GDP is calculated based on demand, supply and employment.

Error detection

This methodology type does not apply to this statistical program.

No imputation was done.

The indicators of supply, demand, GDP and employment are benchmarked to the Canadian Tourism Satellite Account (CTSA) levels and are estimated for the years preceding and following the benchmarks. Benchmarks are incorporated biennially. The National Tourism Indicators (NTI) supply indicators use results from Statistics Canada's supply and use tables, which are based on quarterly and annual surveys of industries and their revenues (production). For periods not covered by the most recent supply and use data the indicators are projected on the basis of: i) results of selected industry surveys or employment surveys; ii) personal consumption expenditures on items closely related to the tourism goods and services being estimated; iii) industry-specific production figures (GDP). Once supply estimates have been calculated, total demand is obtained by using the ratio of demand to supply from the CTSA benchmarks. Estimates used to determine the travel account balance for the Canadian balance of payments provide an overall total for demand by non-residents (tourism exports). Expenditure information is collected quarterly through Canada Customs, while international travelers entering or returning to Canada are counted monthly. Total non-resident demand is then broken down by type of expenditure using travel profiles generated during the detailed calculation of the CTSA. The methodology used to calculate domestic demand estimates has two separate components. First, a derived estimate is constructed by taking total demand minus the non-resident demand at an annual level. This "top-down" approach is further supplemented by the Travel Survey of Residents of Canada (TSRC) data. Quarterly patterns for commodities are taken from the TSRC and used to distribute the annual data. Like the supply and demand indicators, the NTI employment estimates are benchmarked to the CTSA estimates, which in turn are based on measures from the Labour Productivity Accounts. The Labour Force Survey is used primarily to produce control totals, and Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours is used primarily to compute the industry-by-industry breakdown. The latter data are also used to project the quarterly estimates on a current basis. The data, which estimate direct employment, are then seasonally adjusted. Similarly, GDP estimates are based on CTSA annual benchmarks. Quarterly movements and non-benchmark year estimates are calculated using tourism expenditure as an indicator. These direct measures of GDP are then seasonally adjusted.

Quality evaluation

The National Tourism Indicators (NTI) are based on a wide array of related and comparable data. Supply estimates generally follow the trends of the output measures for industries in the supply and use system and the GDP by industry accounts. Tourism expenditures have similar trends to related consumer spending series. However, because tourism includes both personal and business travel, the trends are not the same. Non-resident spending, or tourism exports, is based on Balance of Payments (BOP) data, which in turn come from the International Travel Survey data. The NTI however, do not include certain items in the BOP travel account (crews', medical and education spending) and so the data, while similar, are not identical. Employment and GDP in the NTI are comparable to Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours and GDP by industry data for tourism industries. The NTI, however, only include the employment or production that is attributable to tourism.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Revisions - Preceding quarters of the year are revised when the current quarter is published. In years when an updated Canadian Tourism Satellite Account (CTSA) is not available, revisions extending back three years are made with the publication of first quarter data. In years when an updated CTSA is available, revisions extending back to the CTSA's reference year are made. The data are not normally revised again except when historical revisions are carried out. Seasonal Adjustment - Tourism is dominated by large seasonal fluctuations exhibiting similar patterns from one year to the next. For the convenience of users, these regular variations are removed, through a statistical technique known as seasonal adjustment, to help isolate underlying trends. Two versions of the quarterly National Tourism Indicators (NTI) are available: one unadjusted and the other adjusted for seasonal variation. All seasonally adjusted series of the quarterly NTI are derived using the X-12-ARIMA method. The adjustment is generally made at the lowest level of aggregation and seasonally adjusted aggregates are obtained by summation. The advantages of this approach are twofold. First, by carrying out the seasonal adjustment at the most detailed level, seasonal shifts in the aggregates are more easily explained. Second, the calculation of seasonally adjusted aggregates by summation preserves the accounting identities in the system, which is much more convenient for users.

No direct measures of the margin of error in the estimates can be calculated. The quality of the estimates can be inferred from analysis of revisions and from a subjective assessment of the data sources and methodology used in the preparation of the estimates.

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Research publications

About this publication

Executive Summary

1 introduction, 2 global travel and tourism, 3.1 general, 3.2 key details for 2019, 3.3 travel by canadians, 3.4 indigenous tourism, 3.5 canada–united states tourism, 3.6 international competitiveness, 4.1 destination canada, 4.2 federal tourism strategy, 4.3.1 2008–2013, 4.3.2 2016–2017, 4.3.3 2019, 4.3.4 2021, 4.4 other government players, 5 looking ahead.

Canada’s multi-billion-dollar tourism sector employs hundreds of thousands of Canadians and is supported by all levels of government.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, global tourism and travel sector revenue decreased by 49% from the previous year, to US$4.7 trillion. Global tourism employment fell by 19% to 272 million jobs. Similarly, the Canadian sector earned $49.5 billion in 2020, a decline of 40% from 2019, while domestic employment fell to 1.6 million direct and indirect jobs, a decrease of 24%. About 28% of Canadian tourism revenue is generated from inbound visits.

In 2019, Canadians made 37.8 million foreign trips consisting mainly of 27.1 million visits to the United States. Additionally, Canadians made 10.7 million trips to other countries, most frequently Mexico (1.8 million), Cuba (964,000), the United Kingdom (770,000), China (666,000) and Italy (619,000).

According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 , which ranks the most competitive countries for travel and tourism, Canada ranked ninth out of 140 countries studied, down from eighth place in 2013. Canada ranked first in several sub-categories, such as safety and security, environmental sustainability and air transport infrastructure. Conversely, Canada was found to be deficient in several areas, including price competitiveness and international openness.

Other studies have found that tourism demand is concentrated in Canada’s largest cities, with Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal accounting for 75% of overall visitors and most of this activity taking place during the summer months. There are also challenges stemming from labour shortages, a lack of investment and promotion, and a lack of coordination of tourism policy between all levels of government.

Destination Canada (formerly the Canadian Tourism Commission) is a federal Crown corporation responsible for national tourism marketing and is governed by the Canadian Tourism Commission Act . In 2019, the federal government announced Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy , which is based on the following three pillars: building tourism in Canada’s communities; attracting investment to the visitor economy; and renewing the focus on public-private collaboration.

Between 2008 and 2020, the federal government invested approximately $1 billion in the tourism industry. In 2021, it announced another $1 billion in funding, including the Tourism Relief Fund.

If international borders continue to reopen and the industry continues its steady overall growth of the recent years prior to the pandemic, it will again contribute to Canada’s economic well-being. And although the United States continues to be Canada’s biggest tourism trading partner, stakeholders might continue their efforts of focusing on more growth-oriented, lucrative emerging markets to better diversify tourism interests to help Canada fulfil its tourism potential.

Canada’s tourism industry is an important contributor to Canadian economic growth. This industry – which comprises hospitality and travel services to and from Canada – is a multi-billion-dollar business that employs hundreds of thousands of Canadians and is supported by all levels of government. This HillStudy provides information about Canada’s tourism industry, travel patterns of visitors to and from Canada, the importance of the United States (U.S.) to Canada’s tourism economy and the role of the federal government.

The global tourism sector suffered substantial declines in activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since this HillStudy incorporates data from 2019 and 2020, special attention should be paid to both explicit tourism figures and relative comparisons to previous years due to the extraordinary effects of the pandemic.

According to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, “travel and tourism” includes “transportation, accommodations, food and beverage, meetings and events, and attractions,” such as festivals, historical/cultural institutions, theme parks and nature settings. 1

The World Travel & Tourism Council’s latest annual research explains the COVID 19 pandemic’s impact on the global travel and tourism sector:

• The sector suffered a loss of almost US$4.5 trillion in revenues worldwide, standing at US$4.7 trillion in 2020.
• In 2019, the sector contributed 10.4% to the global gross domestic product (GDP); this decreased to 5.5% in 2020 due to ongoing mobility restrictions.
• In 2020, 62 million jobs were lost, representing a drop of 18.5% of global sectoral employment, leaving just 272 million employed compared to 334 million in 2019.
• Globally, domestic visitor spending decreased by 45% and international visitor spending declined by 69.4%. 2

3 The Canadian Tourism Industry: Facts and Figures

Only about 28% of Canadian tourism revenue (about $21.3 billion) is generated from inbound visits. The remainder represents domestic spending – i.e., what Canadians spend on domestic and foreign tourism activities. Table 1 provides further information about the industry’s recent performance.

Note: Domestic spending includes spending while on a trip in Canada, spending on airfares with Canadian carriers on outbound trips and spending on tourism-related goods, e.g., camping equipment. International spending includes spending while on a trip in Canada but excludes any pre-trip purchases. GDP refers to gross domestic product.

There are two ways to categorize jobs in tourism:

• Jobs in tourism-dependent industries – the total number of jobs in industries where a significant portion of the revenue is in tourism; this includes accommodation, passenger transportation, food and beverage, entertainment and recreation, and travel services.
• Jobs directly supported by tourism – the share of jobs in the economy servicing visitors as opposed to local clients. These are jobs that would not exist without visitors; e.g., in food and beverage, a certain portion caters to local clients, and the portion that caters to visitors is captured in this number.

Figure 1 provides further details about international arrivals to Canada.

Figure 1 – Selected Information on International Arrivals to Canada

According to Destination Canada, prior to the pandemic, Canada benefited from the fact that the tourism sector was booming globally. Since 2000, tourism has been growing approximately three to four times faster than the global population and about 1.5 times faster than the overall global GDP . Furthermore, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic, this was expected to continue into the mid-2020s. In fact, 2017’s travel and tourism sector growth of 4.6% exceeded the global GDP growth rate of 3.7%; that is, for the seventh successive year, the sector outpaced global GDP growth, which itself had the strongest growth a decade. 3

However, even with this strong performance, Canada’s tourism industry potential remains significantly underdeveloped. Specifically, even though it has outpaced global population and GDP growth, Canadian tourism growth has lagged behind global tourism growth for several years (see section 3.6 of this Hill Study). 4

Moreover, tourism represents a much smaller fraction of Canada’s exports when compared to peer countries such as the U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia. Studies suggest there is an opportunity for Canada to more than double its international arrivals and associated revenues by 2030. 5 This could be achieved, in part, by capitalizing on “substantial opportunities to increase the number of tourists to Canada from the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany and Australia.” 6

Beyond its role in helping to create revenue and both direct and indirect jobs in the Canadian tourism industry, the efficient promotion of tourism can be seen as a valuable investment in Canada’s overall economy. A 2013 Deloitte study has shown that “a rise in business or leisure travel between countries can be linked to subsequent increases in export volumes to the visitors’ countries.” 7

In 2019, the Canadian tourism sector had its best year on record, reaching 22.1 million international overnight arrivals, a 4.8% increase over the previous year. Similar to other years, the vast majority (67.7%) came from the U.S.; the top three non-U.S. sources of visitors were the U.K. (875,632), China (715,474) and France (668,490). 8

Destination Canada reported that “air and sea arrivals from the Europe region were mostly on par with 2018 levels, with the exception of France, which led the region (+7.0%).” 9 However, there were mixed results from the Asia-Pacific region as the biggest decline came from the region’s largest market, China (-9.1% in air and sea arrivals), with smaller downward trends from Japan (-1.9%) and Australia (-0.4%). More positively, air and sea arrivals from South Korea were slightly ahead of 2018 levels, while India led the region in year-over-year growth (+9.1%). 10

In North America, the U.S. provided an increase in arrivals on overnight trips entering Canada by air and auto of 6.4%. Mexico was the only one of Destination Canada’s long-haul markets to record double-digit year-over-year growth in overnight arrivals by air and sea (12.3%) in 2019. 11

Canada’s rising popularity among Chinese travellers is particularly noteworthy, as China is now Canada’s second-largest overseas tourism source after the U.K. 12 This is partly attributable to Canada’s having been granted Approved Destination Status by the Chinese government. In 2018, Canada welcomed a record 737,000 Chinese tourists, “surpassing the 700K mark for the first time and doubling the number of annual travellers since 2013, with an average annual growth rate of 16%.” 13 Travelling mainly during July and August, “Chinese tourists spend on average about $2,850 per trip to Canada, staying for around 30 nights.” 14

In 2019, Canadians made 37.8 million foreign trips consisting mainly of 27.1 million visits to the U.S. Although travel to the U.S. declined by 2.3% in 2019 compared to 2018, Canadians “spent $21.1 billion on their trips to the United States in 2019, up 4.8% from a year earlier.” 15

Additionally, Canadians made 10.7 million trips to other countries, the most common of which were Mexico (1.8 million), Cuba (964,000), the U.K. (770,000), China (666,000) and Italy (619,000). 16

Canadians also enjoy travelling within the country, making 275 million domestic trips in 2019, down 1.0% from 2018. Spending on trips within Canada declined 0.3% year over year to $45.9 billion. 17 The top locations were Ontario (116.5 million visits), Quebec (56.9 million visits), British Columbia (34.2 million) and Alberta (32.4 million); this includes both intra and inter-provincial/territorial domestic travel. 18

Canada’s Indigenous tourism sector is diverse and comprises different business models. Although its key drivers of employment and GDP come from air transportation and resort casinos, “it is the cultural workers, such as Elders and knowledge keepers, who define many of the authentic Indigenous cultural experiences available to tourists in Canada.” 19 Moreover, when compared with Indigenous tourism enterprises without a cultural focus, those involved in cultural tourism rely more on visitors from foreign markets as part of their customer base.

Prior to the pandemic, Canada’s Indigenous tourism sector had been rapidly outpacing overall Canadian tourism activity. Specifically, the Indigenous tourism sector’s GDP rose 23.2% between 2014 and 2017, reaching $1.7 billion. 20

Lastly, Indigenous tourism businesses cite access to financing as well as marketing support and training as some of the main barriers to growth. 21  

Given its proximity and long shared border, the U.S. is by far the biggest source of Canada’s tourism visitors: in 2018, about two-thirds of all foreign visitors were Americans, 57% of whom arrived by automobile. 22 The U.S. is also the most visited foreign destination by Canadians.

U.S. arrivals to Canada reached 14.44 million in 2018, up 1% over 2017 and the highest level recorded since 2004. American tourists like to take advantage of their long weekends for travel, with Memorial Day (the last Monday in May), Independence Day (4 July) and Labour Day (the first Monday in September) contributing to the largest weekend spikes in road arrivals in 2018. 23

Americans spend around $700 per trip to Canada, staying an average of five nights. In 2018, they preferred mainly nature-based activities, including natural attractions, hiking or walking in nature, and viewing wildlife. 24

As shown in Figure 2, analysis of various factors over a 20-year period shows that the number of Americans travelling to Canada relates more to the Canadian/U.S. dollar exchange rate than to changes in the U.S.  GDP .

Figure 2 – Index Comparing the Number of U.S. Visits to Canada, the Canadian/U.S. Dollar Exchange Rate and the Change in the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 2000–2019 (2000 = 100)

Source: Figure prepared by the Library of Parliament using data obtained from Statistics Canada, “ Chart 1: Tourists to Canada from abroad, annual ,” The Daily , 20 February 2020; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “ Canadian Dollars to U.S. Dollar Spot Exchange Rate ,” FRED, Database, accessed 20 August 2021; and World Bank, “ GDP (constant 2010 US$) – United States ,” Database, accessed 20 August 2021.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 , Canada ranked ninth out of 140 countries studied, down from eighth place in 2013. 25 Canada was ranked first in several sub-categories, such as safety and security, environmental sustainability and air transport infrastructure.

In contrast, Canada was found to be deficient in several areas, such as price competitiveness and international openness (e.g., visa requirements, air service agreements).

A 2018 report further indicated the following challenges facing the Canadian tourism sector:

• CONCENTRATED DEMAND – Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal (Canada’s three largest cities) account for 75% of all visitors, and most of this activity takes place during the summer months. Plus, 70% of visitors to Canada come from the U.S., making the sector very vulnerable to the vagaries of the American economy.
• ACCESS – Coming to (and travelling within) Canada can be expensive, difficult and time-consuming; this is true for travel both inter-regionally (e.g., visiting a national park from a large city) and within urban centres.
• LABOUR SHORTAGES – Similar to many sectors that service the public, the tourism industry has been facing labour shortages for some time. In fact, this sector “could face a shortage of 120,000 people by the mid-2020s, and up to 230,000 people by 2030.”
• LACK OF INVESTMENT/PROMOTION – As hotels face up to 95% occupancy during the summer months, there are insufficient room-nights for additional large-attendance events such as conventions, conferences and festivals. Also, compared to peer countries, Canada spends less on marketing and promotion per international tourist arrival (in some cases up to 20% less). One of the contributing factors is that most tourism businesses are small enterprises that face difficulties in securing capital.
• GOVERNANCE – Given that the sector is extremely diverse and made up of many destinations in different regions, successful efforts for one region or operator will not necessarily carry over to other parts of the country or service providers. Also, as tourism policies and programs are spread across numerous organizations within every level of government, making a well-coordinated and integrated Canadian approach is difficult. 26

These assessments suggest that even though Canada is doing well in certain areas, other jurisdictions may be greatly improving their ability to attract international tourism. Changing trends in consumer preferences may also play a role in determining which destinations may be more popular than others at any particular time.

4 The Role of the Federal Government

Destination Canada is a federal Crown corporation responsible for national tourism marketing and is governed by the Canadian Tourism Commission Act . It targets the following markets “where Canada’s tourism brand leads and yields the highest return on investment”: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. 27

In 2019, the federal government announced its new tourism strategy entitled Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy . It is based on the following three pillars:

• BUILDING TOURISM IN CANADA’S COMMUNITIES – expand from the concentration of international visitors to Canada’s three largest cities over a few (mostly summer) months by helping communities “exploit and develop the characteristics that make them special. In so doing, they will be better able to convince tourists to get off the beaten path, explore the lesser-known parts of the country, and to visit during the off-peak seasons.”
• ATTRACTING INVESTMENT TO THE VISITOR ECONOMY – to combat the lack of investment in Canada’s tourism sector, the strategy aims to improve coordination among jurisdictions and help attract private investment by establishing “Tourism Investment Groups in every region of Canada to enable the development of impactful tourism projects, including large-scale destination projects.”
• RENEWING THE FOCUS ON PUBLIC–PRIVATE COLLABORATION – with the establishment of the Economic Strategy Table for Tourism, the federal government aims to stimulate and sustain growth in Canada’s tourism sector by working collaboratively with industry to ensure that tourism is on the front lines of economic policy making. This could include addressing “the high cost of travelling to and within Canada, labour shortages and the lack of investment. It could also look at competitiveness, sustainability, the sharing economy and digital platforms.” 28

Part of the focus on improving tourism has been improving accessibility. To that end, in 2018, the Government of Canada introduced Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act , which “aims to achieve a barrier-free Canada through the proactive identification, removal, and prevention of barriers to accessibility in all areas under federal jurisdiction, including transportation services such as air and rail.” 29 The bill received Royal Assent in 2019.

4.3 Federal Funding Initiatives

In 2008–2009, the federal government invested over $500 million in the tourism industry to develop facilities and events, and to promote tourism. This is in addition to investments in other areas that affect tourism, such as improvements for Parks Canada and border services. 30 In 2013, funding of $42 million was allocated to improve visa services, 31 an area where Canada has been found to be deficient.

Since 2016, the regional development agencies have allocated over $196 million to tourism businesses, and the Business Development Bank of Canada has provided more than $1.4 billion in financing. Export Development Canada assists Canadian tourism businesses that aim to expand into global markets. 32 Budget 2017 provided Destination Canada with permanent funding of $95.5 million per year for tourism-related work, up from $58 million. 33

Budget 2019 announced that starting in 2019–2020, $58.5 million over two years would go towards the creation of a Canadian Experiences Fund. The Fund supports “Canadian businesses and organizations seeking to create, improve or expand tourism-related infrastructure—such as accommodations or local attractions—or new tourism products or experiences.” These investments would focus on tourism in rural and remote communities, Indigenous tourism, winter tourism, inclusiveness (especially for the LGBTQ2 communities) and farm-to-table/culinary tourism. 34

Additionally, Budget 2019 included $5 million to Destination Canada for a “tourism marketing campaign that will help Canadians to discover lesser-known areas, hidden national gems and new experiences across the country.” 35

Budget 2019 also included the establishment of the Economic Strategy Table dedicated to tourism, which will bring together “government and industry leaders to identify economic opportunities and help guide the Government in its efforts to provide relevant and effective programs for Canada’s innovators.” 36

Announced in Budget 2021, the Tourism Relief Fund is a $500 million national program that is part of a $1 billion package to support the Canadian tourism sector. 37 Its goal is to position Canada as a destination of choice when domestic and international travel is once again deemed safe (i.e., post-pandemic) by:

• empowering tourism businesses to create new or enhance existing tourism experiences and products to attract more local and domestic visitors; and
• helping the sector reposition itself to welcome international visitors by providing the best Canadian tourism experiences to the world. 38

Initiatives under this fund will help tourism businesses and organizations adapt their operations to meet public health requirements; improve their products and services; and position themselves for post-pandemic economic recovery. 39

Part of this funding includes Destination Canada’s $2-million investment along with $950,000 of in-kind support to the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada to “support the recovery of Indigenous tourism businesses.” 40

Several federal government institutions also play key roles in shaping the outcome of Canada’s tourism economy. For example, the federal government is responsible for the following:

• establishing ticket taxes and travel tariffs;
• providing customs and border services; and
• addressing matters related to national security.

The National Capital Commission and Parks Canada also help ensure that iconic Canadian places are protected and preserved for current and future visitors to enjoy. As well, provincial and territorial governments help develop and promote tourism in Canada. 

The Canadian tourism industry was greatly affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. However, if international borders continue to reopen and if the industry continues its steady overall growth of the recent years prior to the pandemic, tourism will again contribute to Canada’s economic well-being. And although the U.S. continues to be Canada’s biggest tourism trading partner, stakeholders might continue their efforts of focusing on more growth-oriented, lucrative emerging markets to better diversify tourism interests and help Canada fulfil its tourism potential.

• World Travel & Tourism Council, Economic Impact Reports . [ Return to text ]
• Ibid. [ Return to text ]
• Ibid., p. 7. [ Return to text ]
• Destination Canada, China . [ Return to text ]
• Statistics Canada, “ Canadians made fewer trips within Canada and around the world in 2019 ,” The Daily , 9 December 2020. [ Return to text ]
• Ibid., p. 14. [ Return to text ]
• Ibid., p. 15. [ Return to text ]
• Destination Canada, United States . [ Return to text ]
• Destination Canada, Who we are . See also the Canadian Tourism Commission Act , S.C. 2000, c. 28. [ Return to text ]
• Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, “ Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy ,” Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy . [ Return to text ]
• Ibid.; and Accessible Canada Act , S.C. 2019, C. 10. [ Return to text ]
• Government of Canada, “ Chapter 3.1: Connecting Canadians With Available Jobs –Temporary Resident Program ,” Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity: Economic Action Plan 2013 , Budget 2013. [ Return to text ]
• Government of Canada, “ Chapter 2: Building a Better Canada – Launching a Federal Strategy on Jobs and Tourism ,” Investing in the Middle Class , Budget 2019. The Government of Canada’s regional development agencies are the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA); Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED); Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor); Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario); Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor); Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan); and Pacific Economic Development Canada (PacifiCan). [ Return to text ]
• Government of Canada, “ Chapter 2: Building a Better Canada – Launching a Federal Strategy on Jobs and Tourism ,” Investing in the Middle Class , Budget 2019. “LGBTQ2” refers to lesbian, gay, trans, queer and Two-Spirit. [ Return to text ]
• Government of Canada, Tourism Relief Fund . [ Return to text ]
• Destination Canada, Destination Canada providing $2 million in funding to Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada ( ITAC ) . [ Return to text ]

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Provincial and territorial tourism satellite account, 2019.

Released: 2023-02-24

Tourism's economic contribution varied noticeably across the provinces and territories in 2019; its share of gross domestic product ( GDP ) ranged from a low of 1.3% in Saskatchewan to a high of 3.7% in Yukon. Nationally, tourists spent $105.0 billion, contributing 2.0% ($43.6 billion) to GDP .

The Provincial and Territorial Tourism Satellite Account ( PTTSA ) serves as a benchmark for the more up-to-date quarterly National Tourism Indicators. This release provides insights into the structure of the tourism sector prior to the economic shock of the COVID -1 9 pandemic and is a necessary input to the National Tourism Indicators, which depicted the economic activity in the tourism sector throughout the pandemic.

About three-quarters of tourism activity in Canada in 2019 was concentrated in the country's three largest tourism economies: Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec. This held true for tourism's GDP , employment and expenditures. Domestic tourism deman d—t he spending in a province or a territory by residents of that province or territor y—a ccounted for 55.3% of all tourism spending in Canada, while international visitors accounted for 27.2%. The remainder, or 17.4%, was from interprovincial tourism spending, which is the spending in a province or a territory by residents of another province or territory.

Tourism's share of employment was highest in Prince Edward Island (6.6%) and lowest in Manitoba (2.6%). Overall, there were 703,800 tourism jobs in Canada in 2019, which represented about 3.6% of all jobs in the country.

Tourism's contribution to the number of jobs was higher than its contribution to GDP in all of the provinces and territories. This was due to several tourism industries' reliance on part-time, temporary, lower-paying jobs, especially in the food and beverage services industry.

Nationally, domestic tourism demand totalled $58.1 billion in 2019 and was the predominant source of tourism spending in 10 of the 13 jurisdictions. The share of domestic tourism demand was highest in Saskatchewan (72.3%) and Manitoba (67.4%). In contrast, the share was lowest in Prince Edward Island (16.4%), which relies more heavily on tourism exports (interprovincial and international combined).

Tourism expenditures by international visitors to Canada were $28.6 billion nationally in 2019. International exports contributed significantly more to tourism demand than the national average (27.2%) in British Columbia (39.4%) and Yukon (46.8%), and significantly less in Saskatchewan (6.9%), Manitoba (12.0%), Newfoundland and Labrador (12.6%) and Nunavut (15.1%).

The share of interprovincial demand was generally higher in the Atlantic provinces and territories than elsewhere in Canada. In Prince Edward Island, 53.6% of tourism spending was by residents of other provinces or territories. Nationally, interprovincial demand was $18.3 billion.

In 2019, tourists spent $23.7 billion on passenger air transport, more than they spent on any other product. Of this amount, about $6.1 billion was attributable to international visitors. Passenger air transport was the largest tourism expenditure in 9 of the 13 jurisdictions.

The food and beverage services industry was the largest contributor to tourism jobs in Canada and in all jurisdictions, except Saskatchewan and Nunavut. Employment in the food and beverage services industry accounted for almost one in three jobs (219,500) attributable to tourism demand in Canada in 2019.

Environmental impacts of tourism in Canada: linking the Provincial and Territorial Tourism Satellite Account to physical flow account data on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions

Along with the 2019  PTTSA , estimates for Canadian energy use and greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions attributable to tourism in Canada have been released for the first time. These estimates were derived by linking the PTTSA and Statistics Canada's Physical Flow Accounts for energy use and GHG emissions. The estimates are part of a series of similar linkages undertaken in collaboration with the Canadian Centre for Energy Information .

In 2019, 711 740 terajoules of energy use and 50 274 kilotonnes of GHG emissions in Canada were attributable to tourism, which represented 6.1% of all Canadian energy use and 6.4% of all Canadian GHG emissions. This is greater than tourism's share of Canadian GDP , largely because transportatio n—a n energy and GHG intensive activit y—m ade up the greatest percentage of tourism expenditures.

Transportation was by far the most significant contributor, responsible for 84.4% of energy use and 83.4% of GHG emissions attributable to tourism. Passenger air transport (energy, 43.1%; GHG , 43.2%) was the most significant individual product category, followed closely by vehicle fuel (energy, 37.7%; GHG , 37.0%). By comparison, tourism expenditures on vehicle fuel accounted for 6.8% of all tourism expenditures. The relatively high environmental impact per unit of expenditure for the vehicle fuel category is related to the fact that fuel was being directly purchased and combusted by tourists. For other product categories, such as passenger air transport, fuel was just one component of the cost of products purchased by tourists.

Beyond transportation, meals from restaurants (energy, 3.2%; GHG , 4.2%), groceries (energy, 2.1%; GHG , 3.6%) and hotels (energy, 3.2%; GHG , 2.8%) were the next most significant product categories in 2019.

  Note to readers

The Tourism Satellite Account is the internationally accepted framework for measuring tourism activity in an economy. It follows the international guidelines adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission and is rooted in the Canadian System of National Accounts.

The Tourism Satellite Account provides a coherent framework which allows for integration and analysis of economic statistics relevant to tourism, both on the supply (i.e., industry) side and on the demand (i.e., tourist) side. It also defines what are considered to be tourism products and tourism industries, and consequently has helped shape the development of tourism statistics in Canada and in the provinces and territories.

The Provincial and Territorial Tourism Satellite Account ( PTTSA ) provides an economic measure of the importance of tourism in terms of expenditures, gross domestic product ( GDP ) and employment for each of the provinces and territories. It allows for comparisons with other industries within a province or territory because the concepts and methods used are based on the framework of the Canadian System of National Accounts.

Domestic tourism demand includes spending in a province or a territory by residents of that province or territory. International demand, or international exports, include spending by international visitors (e.g., Canadian tourism industries are shown as exporting tourism services to those international visitors). Interprovincial demand, or interprovincial exports, include spending in a province or territory by residents of another province or territory.

The method to derive estimates of GDP for the railway transportation industry was updated with this release. Source data were used in a more appropriate manner to better reflect the economic concepts they were originally intended to represent. This produced alternative ratios used to extract the tourism content from total industry GDP of the railway industry. As a result of the change, the estimates of other operating surplus for the railway transportation industry are significantly lower than past iterations of the PTTSA .

The method to calculate tourism imports was also updated as a result of new travel surveys that were introduced in 2018. Specifically, tourism imports by residents of the territories are now calculated using a method similar to that used to evaluate domestic and interprovincial tourism demand for territorial residents, using data from the supply and use tables.

The estimates for Canadian energy use and greenhouse gas ( GHG ) emissions attributable to tourism in Canada include energy use and GHG emissions from the Canadian supply chain, as well as energy directly used and GHGs directly emitted by tourists related to vehicles. These estimates are a subset of the Physical Flow Accounts compiled by Statistics Canada in accordance with the United Nations' System of Environmental-Economic Accounting. The physical flow accounts differ from those published by Environment and Climate Change Canada in Canada's official National Greenhouse Gas Inventory . A description of the differences between the two sources can be found on the Canadian Centre for Energy Information website .

The data visualization product " Provincial and Territorial Tourism Satellite Account ," which is part of Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products ( Catalogue number 71-607-X ), is now available.

The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.

The Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts ( Catalogue number 13-605-X ) is available.

The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts ( Catalogue number 13-606-G ) is available.

The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts ( Catalogue number 13-607-X ) is available.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136 ; 514-283-8300 ; [email protected] ) or Media Relations ( [email protected] ).

Tourism Statistics in Canada

• Updated: June 11, 2024
• Canadian Statistics

Many industries were hit hard by the global COVID pandemic, but the hardest hit industry was the tourism industry. The ban on travel directly affected all its subcategories, including airlines, cruise lines, accommodation services, tourist attractions, and food services.

It also had an indirect impact on other industries such as retail when visiting shoppers didn’t bring in extra revenue. Some areas, such as the South Shore area in Nova Scotia, were hit harder than others because many local businesses rely on the revenue brought in by tourists.

In this article, we have collected data on how the pandemic affected the tourist industry. We have also included statistics from the first quarter of 2022 to see what has been happening with the number of tourists in Canada since travel bans were lifted.

Tourism Statistics for Canadians

Canada recorded 32 million tourists in 2019 with Toronto and Vancouver the two most popular destinations among international tourists.

• The number of jobs in tourism-dependent industries fell from 2.1 million in 2019 to 1.6 million by the end of 2020.
• Post-pandemic, the tourist industry has struggled to find staff and at the end of the first quarter of 2022, there were 170,000 unfilled jobs in tourism.
• The revenues from the aviation industry fell by 89.9% from April to December 2020.

The tourism spending in the first quarter of 2022 was 34.2% below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

• The GDP from tourism increased by 11.9% in the final quarter of 2021.
• Spending by Canadians was 85.8% of the total tourism spending in the first quarter of 2022.

There were 315,400 overseas tourists in Canada in May 2022.

• There were almost ten times more trips to Canada made by US residents in May 2022 compared to the year before and almost twelve times the number of overseas visitors.
• There were seven times as many trips to the United States by Canadian residents in May 2022 compared to the previous May.
• 593,200 Canadians flew to the United States in May 2022, which represents 73.6% of the trips by air recorded in May 2019. Overseas flights returned to 67.2% of the pre-pandemic levels in May 2019.
• 44% of Canadians feel confident welcoming tourists from overseas to their area, while 70% are happy to welcome tourists from other parts of Canada.

84% of Canadians believe tourism is important to the Canadian economy.

Before the Pandemic

In 2019, before COVID forced countries around the world to close their borders, Canada recorded a total of 32 million tourists, the ninth-highest number in the world. However, when looking at the number of tourists in relation to the population, Canada is 49th in the world with 0.85 tourists per resident. It ranked number one in North America.

Toronto and Vancouver were the most popular destinations in Canada among international travellers. In 2019, Toronto ranked 53rd and Vancouver 68th among the world’s most popular cities with 4.74 million and 3.4 million tourists respectively.

In 2019, there were 2.1 million jobs in the tourism-dependent industries and there were 232,000 tourism establishments.

During the Pandemic

Initially, in the first quarter of 2020, only 187,000 jobs were lost in the industry, but as the pandemic forced the borders to stay closed for much longer than initially thought, the second quarter of 2020 saw 581,000 jobs lost. By the end of 2020, there were 1.6 million jobs in the tourism-dependent industries.

The number of active tourism businesses fell by 9.9% in December 2020 compared to January 2020. This was over three times the overall contraction of the Canadian economy, which was 3.1% during the same period.

The aviation industry was one of the hardest hit, with the revenues from April to December 2020 declined by 89.9%. In the same period, accommodation revenues from hotel stays fell by 71.2%. Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver recorded the lowest occupancies in Canada and saw the biggest revenue drop at 90.8% representing a loss of $2.3 billion across the three cities.

Post Pandemic

In the first quarter of 2022, tourism’s share of the gross domestic product in Canada was 1.3% of the total. The gross domestic product from tourism was up by 0.9% and it was the fourth consecutive quarterly increase. Tourism spending increased by 50.7% in the last four quarters, but in the first quarter of 2022, it was still 34.2% below the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

The growth in the first quarter was largely due to an increase in tourism spending by Canadians during domestic trips. This was up 2.9% compared to the final quarter of 2021. In the first quarter of 2022, tourism spending by international tourists was down by 6.9% compared to the final quarter of 2021. However, there had been a large increase in the number of overnight visitors from the United States and overseas in the final quarter of 2021 especially during the Christmas holidays.

The tourism sector has been steadily adding back over half a million jobs and the number of jobs in the tourist industry went up by a further 0.8% in the first quarter of 2022. However, the industry has struggled to fill these jobs and there were still 170,000 jobs unfilled by the end of the quarter.

Closer look at the tourism spending increases

GDP: The GDP from tourism increased by 11.9% in the final quarter of 2021. It was followed by a more modest increase of 0.9% in the first quarter of 2022. The biggest contribution to the tourism GDP came from the transportation services at 2.9%.

Employment: The number of jobs attributed to tourism has been steadily rising since travel restrictions were relaxed. The number of jobs rose by 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2021 and by a further 0.8% in the first quarter of 2022. Travel services were the largest contributor with a 10.2% increase followed by transportation services (2.6%).

Domestic Tourism Spending: The amount Canadians spend on travel increased by 2.9% in the first quarter of 2022. The main contributors towards the increase were passenger air transport, and pre-trip expenses such as camping equipment, recreational vehicles and crafts and activities equipment. Spending by Canadians was 85.8% of the total tourism spending in the first quarter of 2022.

International Tourism Spending: Spending by international tourists was up by 116.4% in the last quarter of 2021. However, it well by 6.9% in the first quarter of 2022. The biggest contributor to the decline in the first quarter of 2022 was passenger air transport at 11.4% followed by accommodation services at 4.8%.

Tourism Statistics for May 2022

In May 2022, the number of international tourists in Canada continued to rise but was still not at the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. There were almost twelve times as many trips to Canada from overseas countries in May 2022 compared to May 2021. It was still less than half of the trips in May 2019. There were 315,400 overseas tourists in Canada in May 2022.

There were almost ten times more trips to Canada made by residents of the United States in May 2022 compared to the year before. The number of trips represented more than half (52.1%) of the trips taken in May 2019.

The number of visits from US residents in May 2022 was over 1.1 million compared to May 2021 when there were 113,500 trips made by US residents. In May 2019, there were 2.1 million trips to Canada from the United States.

Out of the American arrivals recorded in May 2022, 692,000 were by automobile and 43.7% of the trips were day trips. In May 2021, there were 105,000 trips by automobiles and 1.4 million in May 2019.

Visitor numbers from major markets in Europe and Asia continued to grow. In May 2021, there were 7,100 European visitors to Canada compared to 164,000 in May 2022. Trips to Canada from Asia went up from 8,500 to 72,700 during the same period.

The table below shows the numbers of overnight trips before the pandemic in May 2019 and post-pandemic in May 2021 and May 2022 and the year-on-year differences. We can see from the table that the numbers travelling from France and Mexico have recovered the best while travel from China, Japan and South Korea has been the slowest to recover.

Travelling abroad by Canadians

At the same time as travel to Canada increased again, Canadians started to travel more to the United States and overseas. In May 2022, there were 2.2 million trips to the United States by Canadian residents. In May 2021 there were 311,800 trips to the United States by Canadian residents, so the number of trips a year later was around seven times higher.

The majority of the trips, 1.6 million were by automobile and 58.5% of all trips were one-day trips. The number of Canadians travelling to the United States by air in May 2022 edged closer to the pre-pandemic levels. The 593,200 flights to the United States in May 2022 represented 73.6% of the trips recorded in May 2019. In contrast, only 28,200 Canadians were flying to the United States in May 2021.

The number of Canadians who resumed overseas travel has risen sharply from May 2021 until May 2022. In the previous May, there were only 51,400 overseas trips made by Canadians compared to 652,400 this May. The flights taken in May 2022 represent 67.2% of the flights taken in May 2019 and it was the highest monthly recovery so far.

Canadian views on travel and tourism

Since the return to a more normal life, Canadians are readier to welcome both Canadian and international visitors. 70% of Canadians welcome visitors from other parts of Canada, 48% are happy to welcome visitors from the United States and 44% felt happy to receive tourists from overseas.

In a survey on the importance of tourism to the Canadian economy, 84% of Canadians believe it is important. 82% said they believe Canadians travelling domestically is important for the economy, while 79% of the people responding to the survey said overseas tourists are important to the economy.

The travel industry is expected to reach its pre-pandemic levels by 2024 or by 2025 at the latest. While more people’s confidence in the safety of travel is returning to pre-pandemic levels, the growth can be slowed down by geopolitical events such as the war in Ukraine.

Conclusions

The global pandemic hit the tourist industry the hardest, and it has been slower to recover from the pandemic than other industries. However, as the confidence to travel continues to grow, the numbers have been increasing and are slowly getting closer to pre-pandemic levels.

Foreign tourism from France and Mexico has been quickest to recover, though still lacking behind pre-pandemic levels. The number of arrivals from Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea has been slow to pick up again.

Most Canadians see the tourist industry as important for the Canadian economy and the number of Canadians who feel happy to welcome tourists into their towns and cities is steadily increasing.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most popular tourist destinations in canada, is the tourist industry in canada struggling to find new staff.

Post-pandemic, the tourist industry has struggled to find staff and at the end of the first quarter of 2022 there were 170,000 unfilled jobs in tourism.

Do Canadians feel tourism is an important part of the economy?

How many overseas tourists are in canada, is the tourism industry growing in canada after the start of the pandemic.

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Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

• Travel and tourism employment worldwide 2019-2034

Global employment in the travel and tourism sector increased significantly in 2023 over the previous year, nearly catching up with the figure from 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, travel and tourism generated, directly and indirectly, around 330 million jobs worldwide in 2023. This figure was predicted to reach an estimated 348 million in 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide from 2019 to 2023, with a forecast for 2024 and 2034 (in millions)

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2019 to 2023

¹ Data for 2024 is estimated. ² Data for 2034 is forecast. Figures include the direct, indirect, and induced impact of travel and tourism. Data from 2020 to 2022 were previously published by the source.

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COVID-19 Impact on Tourism Employment to 2025

When COVID-19 struck Canada’s tourism sector, tourist activity plunged to unimagined levels. During the summer of 2020, the highest weekly average occupancy rate for hotels in Canada only reached 42.9% [1] . Passengers on major Canadian airlines for the month of June reached 440,000, which was 6.7 million fewer passengers than the same month a year prior [2] . And with the border closed, the number of tourists coming to Canada collapsed from millions of individuals per month in the summer of 2019, to 67,787 in July 2020 [3] .

Tourism HR Canada wanted to understand the impact this would have on employment, considering not only demand from tourists, but also the local spending component. To do this, we worked with the Conference Board of Canada to adapt its tourism labour supply and demand model to project tourism employment levels to 2025, with quarterly employment estimates for 2020 and 2021. The resulting report, COVID-19 Impact on Tourism Sector Employment and Revenues, details the findings

[1] STR: Canada hotel results for week ending 22 August, https://str.com/press-release/str-canada-hotel-results-week-ending-22-august

[2] Statistics Canada.  Table 23-10-0079-01 Operating and financial statistics for major Canadian airlines, monthly

[3] Statistics Canada.  Table 24-10-0043-01 International tourists entering or returning to Canada, by province of entry