Labour Market Information

Tourism touches everyone—and can transform communities Tourism is big business. Around 10% of working Canadians work in tourism, whether or not they realize it. The tourism workforce is 2 million strong, working in 113,000 businesses across the country. Between accommodations, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation, and travel services, tourism industries generate over […]

Tourism Labour Force Contracts Slightly The tourism sector[1] in March saw an overall slight decline over the previous month[2], with contractions of less than 1% across labour force and employment, and an increase of less than 1% in unemployment. The sector was in a stronger position than in March 2023, but remained slightly below 2019

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is published monthly by Statistics Canada, and the customized data set that Tourism HR Canada purchases provides a current estimate of the state of the tourism labour force throughout the year. The LFS is based on a sample of the population and scaled up to reflect the larger economy, and

Tourism Workforce Accelerates After Sluggish Start to 2024 Overall, the tourism sector[1] in February saw increases over the previous month[2], with growth in employment (+2.6%) outpacing that in the labour force (+2.4%). The sector was in a stronger position than in February 2023, but remained around 1-2% below 2019 levels on both indices. At the

New Year Off to a Slow Start Overall, the tourism sector[1] in January saw a substantial slowdown over the previous month[2], with all industries other than transportation seeing contraction in both labour force and employment. The sector was in a slightly better position than it was in January 2023, but remained below 2019 levels. At

Tourism HR Canada periodically gauges traveller sentiment towards Canada as a tourism destination. This survey exercise was last carried out in late 2021, when the investigation focused mainly on perceptions of service delivery in the context of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, travel restrictions have all but disappeared, and most of us

This past year has been another tricky one for the tourism sector: although demand for tourism products and services has surged, labour issues have continued to pose a problem for the trajectories of recovery and growth that we have all been hoping for. Wider economic pressures have also affected both consumer behaviour and wage expectations,

As we embark on a new year brimming with strategic initiatives to help build a resilient, competitive, inclusive tourism workforce, our research team shares some highlights of the previous year—and a peek at upcoming endeavours. Federal Tourism Growth Strategy The Federal Tourism Growth Strategy, Canada 365: Welcoming the World. Every Day., was released in 2023,

Winter Stasis Across the Tourism Sector Overall, the tourism sector[1] in December saw little movement from the previous month[2], with aggregate changes across labour force, employment, and unemployment staying under ±0.5%. The sector was in a stronger position than in December 2022, with both employment and labour force up by around 4.5% on the previous