The team at Tourism HR Canada was thrilled to be the recipient of the CGLCC Champion Award, presented last week at the LGBT+ Excellence in Business & Leadership Awards held virtually during the New World: 2021 Digital LGBT+ Global Business Summit.
“Our mission is to contribute to a thriving and inclusive Canadian economy by promoting economic growth and prosperity, in particular through enhanced supplier diversity, global trade opportunities, and LGBT+ youth mentorship,” stated Darrell Schuurman, co-founder and CEO at CGLCC – Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce. “This award is bestowed by the CGLCC Board of Directors to an individual or organization that has made an outstanding commitment to the CGLCC. Tourism HR Canada is extremely deserving of this award given its ongoing support of the CGLCC over the years!”
CGLCC and Tourism HR Canada recently wrapped up a national diversity and inclusion initiative that saw workshops and seminars delivered for free across Canada, in-person and virtually, to over 1,100 individuals in tourism and hospitality. The program also conducted a number of destination audits on participating businesses’ LGBT+ travel market readiness and tourism strategies, and provided a toolkit with 11 new downloadable resources focused on helping participants become more inclusive and welcoming of LGBT+ travellers and employees. (A full summary of the project, funded by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada [ISED] can be found here.)
“This is absolutely thrilling and a great honour,” said Philip Mondor, president and CEO of Tourism HR Canada. “Tourism HR Canada has always been a great fan of the important work at CGLCC. The focus on inclusion, diversity, anti-oppressive practices, sustainable development respectful of people and place…these are all part of our DNA, and values we share with CGLCC. Our team worked hand-in-hand with CGLCC to attain overwhelming success over the past few years. We offer our thanks and our commitment to continue to work in partnership with CGLCC on many more initiatives.”
In addition to the programming mentioned above, Tourism HR Canada worked with CGLCC on its recently announced national Rainbow Registered accreditation program. The accreditation “will help consumers and prospective employees to more easily identify LGBT+ friendly businesses across Canada. It will also help businesses of all industries and sizes demonstrate their commitment and consistent efforts to provide a welcome and accepting experience through progressive policies and practices.”