Building a World-Leading Tourism Workforce

As Canada’s national HR organization working for the tourism sector, our goal is to support the growth of Canada’s visitor economy with a skilled, diverse, inclusive, and resilient workforce.

Programs

Belong

INCLUSIVE EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACES

Access free training, tools, and support to hire, retain, and promote individuals with disabilities—empowering your team and enriching your business.

The Canadian Academy of Travel and Tourism helps high school teachers and students explore tourism through a flexible suite of free educational resources easily integrated into any secondary school curriculum.

Discover Tourism

CAREER EXPLORATION WEBSITE

Whether you’re looking for a rewarding career full of exciting new challenges, or a flexible job that fits your busy lifestyle, there are endless opportunities to discover in tourism.

Emerit Skills Training and Certification

FLEXIBLE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Setting the standard for nearly 30 years, Emerit offers resources designed by industry, for industry. Boost your tourism career with Emerit’s flexible training and certification.

Propel Student Work Placement Program

WAGE SUBSIDIES FOR WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING

Propel offers post-secondary students opportunities to develop the work-ready skills required to secure meaningful employment upon graduation. Employers are provided with a wage subsidy for each student hired through the program.

SMART+ Accreditation Program

NATIONAL RECOGNITION FOR TOURISM EDUCATION

Elevate your tourism-related educational program with SMART+ Accreditation. Showcase your commitment to excellence, align with industry standards, and gain national recognition.

Workforce Management Engine

TOOLS TO GUIDE TOURISM TALENT

Unlock your tourism workforce's potential. Access over 400 competencies, build tailored job profiles, and align training with industry standards—all in one interactive platform.

2 million

people working in tourism

265,000

tourism businesses across Canada

10%

of all working Canadians work in tourism

Labour Market Information

Tourism Employment Tracker

Discover how employment in Canada’s tourism sector is shifting month by month. The Tourism Employment Tracker offers interactive charts powered by customized Labour Force Survey data—giving you clear insights into employment, hours worked, and economic indicators across tourism industries.

Tourism at a Glance

Start here for a quick overview of key tourism definitions, numbers, workforce stats, and industry groups.

Pulling Together: The Productivity and Skills Agenda

Discover key themes that have emerged across recent labour market research and explore recommendations to ensure tourism thrives.

Tourism Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Find monthly and annual insights into important labour market indicators and information on the working-age population in all provinces.

News

Featured

Canadian Tourism Labour Market Snapshot: March 2025

April 15, 2025

Tourism Labour Force and Employment Slow in March The tourism sector[1] in March 2025 contracted slightly from the previous month[2], across both labour force and employment. Both indices were higher than they were last year (+2.1% and +3.0%, respectively), and…

Featured, Uncategorized

Canadian Tourism Labour Market Snapshot: May 2025

June 11, 2025

Summer Employment Growth Led by Recreation and Entertainment, Accommodations In spite of ongoing economic tensions between Canada and its largest trading partner, the Canadian tourism sector[1] in May 2025 saw promising growth over the previous month[2]. Although tourism is less…

Labour Market Information

Propel: Building Canada’s Tourism Workforce, One Student at a Time

June 11, 2025

By Joe Baker, Tourism HR Canada Board of Directors In August of 2021, Canada’s tourism sector was in a fragile place. We were navigating workforce losses, sector uncertainty, and deep concern about future capacity. Out of that turbulence came a…

Propel

Upcoming Events

Propel Student Work Placement Program Webinar

Join the Propel team for an overview of the program, including eligibility criteria, application process, and key dates.

August 14, 2025

Tourism Industry Association of Manitoba Advocacy Forum

The Belong team joins TIAM to host an insightful afternoon on inclusive employment and workplaces in tourism.

October 6, 2025

Resources Hub

Workforce Management Engine

This interactive platform helps professionals and organizations apply industry standards to best suit their needs.

Immigration Hub

Access accurate, up-to-date information on immigration policies, procedures, and resources.

Compensation Insights

Find wage rates by region and industry, trends in perks and benefits, and resources to build an innovative compensation culture.

About Tourism HR Canada

Tourism HR Canada is a pan-Canadian Workforce Development Council. Its mandate is aimed at building a world-leading tourism workforce.

Support a globally competitive and sustainable tourism sector
Foster the development of a dynamic and resilient workforce
Coordinate human resource development activities
Build tools and resources for successful careers and entrepreneurial endeavours

Partners

Tourism HR Canada works with businesses, educators, government agencies, and other stakeholders to improve HR-related activities within the tourism sector. For over 30 years, Tourism HR Canada has entered into strategic agreements that encourage sectoral and cross-sectoral cooperation, reduce duplication of effort, and address other challenges facing both the labour force and employers in Canada.