Labour Force Survey
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Labour Force Survey 2025
Given the seasonal nature of tourism, with employment naturally rising and falling throughout the year, it can be challenging to distinguish between regular seasonal changes and the lasting effects of economic, political, and social changes across the workforce. This is where the annual LFS data becomes essential: it enables comparisons between 2025 and previous years to identify trends that go beyond typical seasonal variations.
This report presents an analysis of the 2025 annual LFS statistics, covering labour force size, employment, unemployment, and wages at the national, provincial, industry, and demographic levels.
In previous annual LFS reports, comparisons with 2019 LFS statistics were primarily used to assess the lingering impacts of COVID-19. However, it is now important to shift toward a broader understanding of the dynamics of the tourism labour force, beyond a focus on pandemic effects. Other factors, such as immigration policies, workforce mobility, and infrastructure development, may also significantly influence the supply of tourism labour.
Tourism Labour Force and Employment
Although the share of the tourism labour force remains below its 2019 level (10.9%), it has shown steady recovery since 2020, reaching 10.0% in 2025, indicating that while the tourism sector has not fully returned to its pre-pandemic proportion, it continues to regain ground within the broader labour market.
- Tourism is expanding at a faster pace than the national labour market as a whole. From 2024 to 2025, the tourism labour force grew by 2.4%, exceeding the 2.0% growth rate of the overall Canadian labour force.
- Similarly, while total employment across all sectors increased by 1.4% from 2024 to 2025, tourism employment rose by 3.0%. This stronger employment growth highlights the tourism sector’s accelerating recovery and increasing demand for workers.
Annual Average Employment by Industry
Compared to 2024, employment increased nationally in all five tourism industries: accommodations (+15.1%), recreation and entertainment (+3.3%), travel services (+2.9%), food and beverage services (+2.0%), and transportation (+0.5%). This is a positive change compared to the previous year, when employment in the travel services and accommodations industries dropped by 4.6% and 6.3%, respectively, from 2023 to 2024.
Despite the positive national trend, provincial results varied widely, with several regions experiencing notable declines in certain tourism industries.
- Employment in the accommodations industry declined significantly in Newfoundland and Labrador (-18.5%) and New Brunswick (-8.1%). Saskatchewan experienced the largest growth in this industry (+46.9%).
- Employment in the recreation and entertainment industry declined significantly in Prince Edward Island (-20.8%) and British Columbia (-6.5%). Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the largest growth in this industry (+22.7%).
- Employment in the travel services industry declined significantly in New Brunswick (-16.7%), Manitoba (-16.7%), Alberta (-16.7%), and Quebec (-10.1%). Ontario experienced the largest growth in this industry (+13.5%).
- Employment in the food and beverage services industry declined significantly in Nova Scotia (-12.9%). Manitoba experienced the largest growth in this industry (+7.3%).
- Employment in the transportation industry declined significantly in Prince Edward Island (-12.5%), British Columbia (-10.8%), and Manitoba (-9.6%). Nova Scotia experienced the largest growth in this industry (+19.2%).
Annual Average Employment by Province
Compared to 2024, tourism employment increased in seven provinces. Ontario led tourism employment growth with a 6.1% increase, followed by Alberta (+4.8%) and Saskatchewan (+3.8%). Tourism employment declined in four provinces: Prince Edward Island (-3.3%), British Columbia (-2.2%), Nova Scotia (-2.2%), and New Brunswick (-2.1%).
Unemployment
The unemployment rate represents the percentage of the labour force that is actively seeking employment but is currently without a job. It is a critical economic indicator for evaluating the overall health of the Canadian economy, although it masks substantial regional differences, even at the provincial level. There are remote/rural/urban distinctions, as well as differences between towns and cities of comparable size. Nevertheless, these aggregate estimates for unemployment provide an important insight into workforce dynamics.
Annual Average Unemployment by Industry
For the overall economy, the unemployment rate in 2025 was 6.8%. Compared to 2024, the unemployment rate rose in the overall economy (from 6.3%) while it decreased in the tourism sector (from 6.1% to 5.5%). Unemployment rates decreased across most tourism industries except transportation, where it increased by 0.9 percentage points. This was the opposite of the previous year, when transportation was the only tourism industry with a falling unemployment rate. Despite the increase, the transportation industry continued to have the lowest unemployment rate (3.4%) among all tourism industries, while the recreation and entertainment industry had the highest (7.6%).
Annual Average Unemployment by Province
In 2025, tourism unemployment rates in Saskatchewan (4.7%), Alberta (4.8%), Quebec (4.9%), and British Columbia (5.4%) were lower than the national average of 5.5%. Newfoundland and Labrador (11.2%) and Prince Edward Island (12.0%) had the highest unemployment rates.
When comparing tourism unemployment rates to those of the overall provincial economies, tourism unemployment was higher in the Atlantic provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador (11.2% vs. 10.1%), Prince Edward Island (12.0% vs. 8.0%), Nova Scotia (7.0% vs. 6.6%), and New Brunswick (7.2% vs. 7.1%).
Monthly Unemployment Rate (Tourism vs. Total Labour Force)
In 2025, unemployment in both the total labour force and the tourism sector showed a broadly similar mid-year pattern, though tourism consistently recorded lower rates throughout the year.
The total labour force unemployment rate fluctuated between 6.1% and 8.0%, starting at 7.1% in January, easing slightly in the first half of the year, and then peaking at 8.0% in August before declining toward year-end to around 6.3%. In contrast, tourism unemployment began at 6.0% in January, rose modestly to 6.4% in March, and then trended downward through the summer, reaching its lowest point of 4.8% in July. After a small rebound in August, tourism unemployment stabilized around 4.9–5.1% for the remainder of the year.
Overall, the tourism sector showed lower and more stable unemployment rates than the total labour force, with a more pronounced decline during the peak tourism months, suggesting stronger seasonal employment demand in the tourism sector.
Annual Unemployment Rate (Tourism vs. Total Labour Force) 2005 – 2025
Between 2005 and 2008, the tourism unemployment rate closely mirrored that of the total economy. But starting from 2008, those rates diverged. The financial crisis drove up the unemployment rate in all sectors, but the tourism sector was less affected compared to the overall economy. For a decade after the financial crisis, tourism unemployment was consistently about a percentage point lower than the overall unemployment rate.
That trend came to a crashing halt in 2020. Overall, the unemployment rate spiked to 9.7% (higher than at the height of the financial crisis), whereas tourism unemployment soared to 17.2%. In most provinces, the tourism unemployment rates were unprecedented. In 2025, national unemployment rates rose for the overall economy, but declined for the tourism sector compared to the previous year.
Average Hourly Wage Rate
The following section presents an analysis of the average hourly wage rate.
Average Hourly Wage Rate by Province
From 2024 to 2025, the average hourly wage rate rose by 3.4% across the entire national economy, while the tourism sector saw a 2.6% increase. Although the national average hourly wage growth in the tourism sector was lower than that of the overall economy, several provinces saw higher wage growth in tourism compared to the broader economy. These included Newfoundland and Labrador (5.6% vs. 2.9%), Nova Scotia (5.7% vs. 5.2%), New Brunswick (7.9% vs. 3.2%), Ontario (4.1% vs. 3.6%), Saskatchewan (2.9% vs. 2.5%), and Alberta (2.8% vs. 2.7%).
Surprisingly, the average hourly wage rate in the tourism sector decreased in two provinces from 2024 to 2025: Prince Edward Island (-0.9%) and Quebec (-0.2%). In comparison, the average hourly wage rate across the entire economy increased by 1.9% in Prince Edward Island and by 3.6% in Quebec.
In 2025, British Columbia had the highest average hourly wage rates for both the overall economy ($37.95/hour) and the tourism sector ($28.73/hour) among all provinces, while Prince Edward Island had the lowest for both categories, with $30.11/hour for the total economy and $20.18/hour for the tourism sector. The wage gap between the tourism sector and the overall economy was largest in Alberta ($12.96/hour), Ontario ($11.92/hour), and Saskatchewan ($11.06/hour). In contrast, the smallest wage gaps were observed in Manitoba ($7.71/hour) and New Brunswick ($8.85/hour).
Average Hourly Wage Rate by Occupation
The change in the average hourly wage rate in the tourism sector from 2024 varied significantly across different occupations. The top tourism occupations with the highest wage growth included retail salespersons and visual merchandisers (+63.3%), material handlers (+21.1%), managers in transportation (+19.6%), and pursers and flight attendants (+15.7%).
Conversely, some tourism occupations experienced declines in average hourly wages, with the most notable among landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists (-14.5%), human resources managers (-19.8%), and retail sales supervisors (-20.7%). It is important to note that data for certain tourism occupations were suppressed, making comparisons unavailable for those roles.
In 2025, managers in transportation earned the highest average hourly wage in the tourism sector ($68.64/hour), while cashiers had the lowest average hourly wage ($17.35/hour). Although most occupations tended to have lower wages in tourism compared to the overall economy, some roles saw higher earnings within the tourism sector. For example, retail sales supervisors earned $11.31/hour more in tourism and managers in transportation made $9.65 more. Conversely, certain occupations had significantly lower wages in tourism compared to their counterparts in other sectors, including human resources managers (-$15.46/hour), conservation and fishery officers (-$7.88/hour), and human resources professionals (-$6.93/hour).
Median Hourly Wage Rate
According to Statistics Canada, the median wage is often preferred over the average wage, as it is less influenced by extreme or outlier values, making it a more accurate representation of typical wages within an occupation. For this reason, an analysis of median hourly wages was conducted for a more comprehensive understanding.
In this data set, reported average wages were generally higher than median wages, indicating that there were more lower-paid employees than higher-paid ones. This is likely at least partly a reflection of the relatively younger workforce in tourism than in the economy overall, as younger workers tend to be in more entry-level positions (and are therefore paid less) than older workers tend to be.
Median Hourly Wage Rate by Province
From 2024 to 2025, the median hourly wage rate increased by 2.6% across the national economy, from $30.00/hour to $30.77/hour, but did not change in the tourism sector ($20.00/hour). Three provinces in the tourism sector reported median hourly wages at or above the national level ($20.00 per hour): British Columbia ($23.00), Quebec ($21.00), and Ontario ($20.00).
Notably, Alberta’s median hourly wage in the tourism sector decreased from 2024 (-2.6%), while all other provinces experienced increases. Saskatchewan (+5.9%) and New Brunswick (+4.3%) saw the most substantial growth in tourism sector median wages compared to 2024.
In 2025, British Columbia had the highest median hourly wage rates for both the overall economy ($32.49/hour) and the tourism sector ($23.00/hour). In contrast, Prince Edward Island had the lowest for both categories, with $26.63/hour for the total economy and $18.00/hour for the tourism sector. The gap between the tourism sector’s median wage and the overall economy’s median wage was largest in Alberta ($13.50/hour), Ontario ($11.25/hour), and Saskatchewan ($10.85/hour). Meanwhile, the smallest wage gaps were observed in Prince Edward Island ($8.63/hour) and Manitoba ($8.75/hour).
Median Hourly Wage Rate by Occupation
The year-over-year change in the median hourly wage rate in the tourism sector varied notably across different occupations. The top tourism occupations with the highest growth in median hourly wages included pursers and flight attendants (+43.8%), tour and travel guides (+29.0%), and library, archive, museum, and art gallery managers (+18.8%). Conversely, some tourism occupations experienced declines in their median hourly wage rates, with the most significant drops seen among retail sales supervisors (-28.0%), human resources managers (-18.4%), and landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists (-18.0%). Again, it is important to note that data for certain tourism occupations were suppressed, making comparisons unavailable for those roles.
In 2025, managers in transportation had the highest median hourly wage rate in the tourism sector ($57.69/hour), while cashiers earned the lowest median hourly wage, at $17.00/hour. Although most occupations have lower median wages in tourism compared to the broader economy, certain roles pay more within the tourism sector. For example, air pilots, flight engineers, and flying instructors earned $7.69/hour more, while purchasing and inventory control workers earned $5.00/hour more compared to their counterparts in other sectors. On the other hand, some occupations had significantly lower median wages in tourism, including human resources managers (-$13.20/hour) and conservation and fishery officers (-$10.26/hour).
Demographics Analysis
This section provides a demographic analysis of employment, unemployment rates, and wages.
Employment
The tourism workforce is predominantly young. In 2025, more than half (54.6%) of those employed in the tourism sector were aged between 15 and 34 years, including 31.6% aged 15 to 24 and 22.9% aged 25 to 34. This trend is especially pronounced in the food and beverage services industry, where two-thirds of workers were within the 15 to 34 age range and nearly half (42.6%) were aged 15 to 24.
In 2025, the gender distribution in the tourism sector was fairly balanced¹, with 51.4% men+ and 48.6% women+, closely mirroring the overall economy’s split of 52.8% men+ and 47.2% women+. Among the five tourism industries, transportation was predominantly male dominated (74.5% men+), whereas the travel services industry employed significantly more women+ (63.9%) than men+. The remaining three tourism industries showed a relatively even gender distribution.
In 2025, the tourism workforce included a slightly higher proportion of landed immigrants² (31.3%) than the overall economy (30.0%). Notably, the transportation (42.7%), travel services (40.4%), and accommodations (37.6%) industries employed a particularly high share of landed immigrants. In contrast, only 17.8% of workers in the recreation and entertainment industry were landed immigrants.
Unemployment Rate
In 2025, the unemployment rate was highest among the 15-24 age group for both the overall economy and the tourism sector. Compared to the overall economy, tourism experienced lower unemployment rates across all age groups. Among the five tourism industry groups, the unemployment rate was generally high in accommodations and in recreation and entertainment.
Please note that unemployment rate data was unavailable for the travel services industry; this industry is therefore excluded from the following charts.
In 2025, women+ experienced a notably high unemployment rate in the recreation and entertainment industry (7.8%), while the unemployment rate for men+ was especially high in the accommodations industry (7.6%).
In 2025, while landed immigrants faced higher unemployment rates in 2025 than Canadian-born individuals³ in the overall economy, the tourism sector showed the opposite trend. Notably, in the accommodations industry, those born in Canada had a significantly higher unemployment rate (8.6%) compared to landed immigrants (3.7%). Generally, unemployment rates for landed immigrants were lower than for Canadian-born workers across all tourism industries.
Average Hourly Wage Rate
In both the overall economy and the tourism sector, average hourly wages generally rise with age, peaking among workers aged 45 to 54, then declining for older age groups. In 2025, the wage gap between the tourism sector and the overall economy was narrowest among the youngest workers (15-24 years old), with a $2.77/hour difference, and widest for the 35-44 age group, where the gap reached $9.84/hour.
In 2025, men+ earned higher average hourly wages than women+ in both the overall economy and the tourism sector. However, the wage gap between men+ and women+ was narrower in tourism, with a difference of $4.39 per hour, compared to a larger gap of $4.60 per hour in the overall economy.
In 2025, the average hourly wage rates of landed immigrants were generally similar to those of Canadian-born workers in both the overall economy and the tourism sector. Notably, while landed immigrants earned slightly less than Canadian-born workers on average in the entire economy, they actually earned more than Canadian-born workers within the tourism sector.
Median Hourly Wage Rate
In 2025, median hourly wage rates increased with age for both the overall economy and the tourism sector, peaking among workers aged 35 to 44, then declining for older age groups. The wage gap between the tourism sector and the overall economy was smallest among the youngest workers (15–24 years old) with a $1.50/hour difference, and largest for the 35–44 age group, where the gap widened to $11.06/hour.
In 2025, the median hourly wage rate for men+ exceeded that of women+ in both the overall economy and the tourism sector. However, the gender wage gap was notably smaller in the tourism sector, with a difference of $2.15 per hour, compared to a $4.15 per hour gap in the overall economy.
In 2025, across the entire economy, landed immigrants had a lower median hourly wage rate compared to those born in Canada. However, in the tourism sector, landed immigrants’ median hourly wage rate was slightly higher than that of Canadian-born workers.
¹This category includes persons who are, or who have ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents. Such persons have been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Immigrants who have obtained Canadian citizenship by naturalization are included in this category.
²Statistics Canada recently began classifying certain nonbinary identities as either male or female for aggregate statistical reporting purposes. The plus symbol (+) used here denotes that data uses this new classification system, making it not directly comparable to earlier measures.
³This category consists of persons who are Canadian citizens by birth.
Source: The information presented here is drawn from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. It shows rates of unemployment in Canada’s tourism sector by province and by industry group. The data is seasonally unadjusted to allow comparisons between the tourism sector and the overall economy. As such, monthly and annual numbers for Canada’s entire labour force will differ from the seasonally adjusted numbers that are commonly reported.
Statistics Canada has introduced revisions to the historical Labour Force Survey (LFS) data that Tourism HR Canada uses for our labour market information reporting. Consequently, there may be slight variations between what is reported on the Statistics Canada site and our site, but the narrative of significant job losses remains unchanged.
Tourism HR Insider subscribers receive monthly estimates of employment and unemployment for each of tourism’s five industry groups and for each province. To sign up, click here.
You can also access detailed Labour Force Survey data by occupation and region through our Rapid reSearch tool, hosted on emerit.ca. Sign up for an account to gain access to the data.
This project is funded by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program
The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.