Tourism Employment Tracker

The Labour Force Survey (LFS), conducted by Statistics Canada, is the source of monthly employment estimates for Canadian industries. The monthly LFS sample size is approximately 56,000 households, covering 100,000 individuals.

Tourism HR Canada receives customized LFS tables that follow the Tourism Satellite Account’s definition of tourism. This allows Tourism HR Canada to track employment and unemployment in the tourism sector and compare it with the overall economy. This customized LFS data, publicly available LFS data, and other data sources on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and mobility were used to develop the following month-by-month charts.

In addition to this ongoing tracking, we summarize the key points each month. You can receive these updates by subscribing to our bi-weekly newsletter, Tourism HR Insider.

View the latest monthly employment summary

Note: Tourism HR Canada’s customized labour force survey data is seasonally unadjusted. Therefore, comparisons to the overall employment and unemployment rates also utilize unadjusted data. For that reason, total employment and unemployment numbers may differ from those reported elsewhere.

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Tourism Employment

Chart 1 tracks the total number of individuals employed in Canada’s tourism sector for each month and compares it to monthly employment in 2019. Users can select data for Canada or each province at the right-hand side of the chart. Additional graphs can be selected using the arrow at the bottom of the chart window. Graphs two and three in the series show employment levels relative to other provinces. Graph four shows the month-over-month change in employment (blue bars) and the year-to-date change in employment compared to December 2019 (orange bars). Graph five breaks out the month-over-month change in employment by employment type (full-time or part-time).

Chart 1: Tourism Employment by Province
Chart 2 displays the same employment information but for each of the five industry groups that make up the tourism sector. Additional graphs can be selected using the arrow at the bottom of the chart. Graph two in the series shows the amount of monthly employment in each industry group relative to each other. Graph three shows the month-over-month change in employment (blue bars) and the year-to-date change in employment compared to December 2019 (orange bars). Graph four breaks out the month-over-month change in employment by employment type (full-time or part-time).
Chart 2: Tourism Employment by Industry Group

Please note that data for each industry group by province is available, but there is high variability in monthly industry group data at the provincial level. To request data, please email research@tourismhr.ca.

Unemployment Rate

Chart 3 displays the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate for tourism and the overall labour force, comparing the pandemic and post-pandemic unemployment rates to the unemployment rate for 2019, nationally and by province. Monthly unemployment rates for each industry group are also available. Under normal circumstances, tourism’s unemployment rate trends downward as the summer season approaches.

Note that Canadians are only counted as unemployed if they are actively seeking another job. Unemployment by industry associates unemployed individuals with their former industry for one calendar year. After one year of unemployment, they are still considered unemployed, but are not classified by industry. Thus, in April 2021, tourism unemployment dropped as long-term unemployed tourism employees were reclassified.

Chart 3: Tourism Unemployment Rate

Tourism Business Openings and Closures

Statistics Canada produces estimates of the number of business openings and closures each month. In addition, this data tracks the number active businesses, defined as “those businesses that reported having one or more employees in a given month”.

Data for the tourism sector was recently added to the data set, allowing us to track the ongoing number of active business in our sector. Chart 4 presents this data using a logarithmic scale, which can be tailored by industry group and by province for which data is available.

The data does not distinguish between a permanent closure or a temporary closure due to seasonality.

Please note: the data shown are seasonally adjusted experimental estimates of business openings and closures. Data is revised monthly. Recent months may contain data points that should be used with caution. For further information, email research@tourismhr.ca.

Chart 4: Tourism Business Openings and Closures

Entry and Exit from the Tourism Labour Force

Chart 5 tracks the total number of individuals in the tourism sector’s labour force. The tourism labour force is the total number of individuals who are employed in tourism plus the total number of unemployed individuals seeking work whose last job (within one calendar year) was in the tourism sector. Graph one in the series displays data for each month and compares it to monthly employment in 2019. Graph two looks at the total number of individuals entering or leaving the tourism labour force on a month-over-month basis and on a year-to-date basis with December 2019 as the anchor point. The overall labour force number is important because it shows the total number of experienced tourism workers who are available to work in the sector. Decreases in the labour force can be due to either employment dropping (and those unemployed workers choosing not to seek work) or unemployed tourism workers finding jobs in other industries.

Chart 5: Workforce Entry and Exit

Total Actual Hours Worked

Chart 6 displays the monthly percentage change in employment and actual hours worked each month compared to the same month in 2019.

Graph two in the series shows the total number of actual hours worked by tourism employees in each month and compares it to both 2020 and 2019.

Graphs three and four show the number of hours worked in each of the sectors that are part of Statistics Canada’s regularly published data (tourism is not a published sector). However, Accommodation & Food Services and Information, Culture & Recreation have significant overlap with the tourism sector. Users can select any of the sixteen sectors individually or select multiple sectors using the CTRL or Command button. Data is available for Canada and each province. Data can be toggled between a line graph and a bar chart. The line graph shows data for the year 2019 to allow year-over-year comparisons of monthly hours worked by sector.

Chart 6: Actual Hours Worked and Employment (Monthly)

Gross Domestic Product

Chart 7 shows total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from all sources for fourteen tourism-related industries. On average, the GDP from tourism spending is around 2.0% of Canada’s total GDP. However, that number is only from tourism activities (both domestic and international). It does not account for money spent by locals at tourism businesses like restaurants or recreation facilities. The following chart shows total GDP from all sources. It compares the monthly GDP for 2019 onward. Please note that there is a longer lag time to receive GDP data than labour force data.

The default setting shows total GDP across the entire Canadian economy. Users can select each of the tourism-related industries individually or select multiple industries using the CTRL or Command function to see the total GDP of those industries.

Chart 7: Gross Domestic Product (Monthly)

Employment by Demographic Groups

Chart 8 tracks male and female employment levels within tourism and its five industry groups. In February 2020, women made up 48.1% of employed workers in tourism and were the majority of employees in the accommodations, food and beverage services, and travel services industry groups.

Graph one in the series shows the total number of employed male and female workers by month since January 2019. Graph two shows the monthly change in employment levels for women and men compared to the same month in 2019.

Chart 8: Employment by Gender (Monthly)

Chart 9 tracks employment in tourism by age group using a logarithmic scale.

Graph one in the series shows the total number of employed tourism workers by age group for each month since January 2019. Graph two shows the size of the tourism labour force in each age category, the number of unemployed workers in each age category, and the unemployment rate by month. Graph three shows the monthly change in employment (as a percent of the same month’s employment in 2019).

Chart 9: Employment by Age Category (Monthly)

Chart 10 shows employment levels for each age group and allows you to cross-tabulate age with gender. Graphs two and three in the series show this data for each province.

Chart 10: Employment by Age and Gender

Chart 11 tracks employment in tourism by immigrant status.

Graph one in the series shows the total number of immigrant and non-immigrant workers in tourism by month since January 2019.

Graph two shows the monthly change in employment for immigrants and non-immigrants compared to the same month in 2019. As a percentage, employment losses in tourism have been greater for non-immigrants. This is because employment losses in tourism have been greater for young workers than older workers. Young workers are less likely to be immigrants.

Chart 11: Employment by Immigration Status

Employment by Type of Geographic Region

Chart 12 tracks employment in tourism by the different types of geographic regions in Canada (urban, rural, etc.) using a logarithmic scale. Graph two in the series shows the size of the tourism labour force in each geographic region, the number of unemployed workers in each region, and the unemployment rate by month. Graph three shows the monthly change in employment as a percent of employment in February 2020.

This data shows regions attached to a Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) or Census Agglomeration Area (CA) and those that are not. A CMA has a population of at least 100,000 and a CA has a population of at least 10,000.

Fringe areas have smaller populations and do not directly share a border with a CMA or CA, but are generally integrated with the CMA or CA (e.g., small bedroom communities). Rural areas associated to a CMA are similar.

Small population centres are outside of a CMA or CA and have populations of 1,000 to 10,000. Rural areas are sparsely populated areas, including small towns and villages. They can be classified as attached to a CMA/CA (e.g., close by) or unattached.

Chart 12: Employment by Type of Geographic Region

Employment by Occupational and Industry Earnings

Chart 13 shows the monthly change in employment levels broken down by average annual earnings for occupations across all industries (two-digit NOC code) and for each tourism related industry (4-digit NAICS code). The occupations and industries are grouped by the average earnings employees in those occupations and industries make. Earnings are grouped by those earning less than $30,000; $30,000 to $50,000; $50,000 to $80,000; and over $80,000. The data shows that initial employment losses (March and April 2020) were heavily concentrated in occupations where workers earn less than $50,000 a year on average. Within tourism industries, early employment losses were most pronounced within industries with average annual earnings below $30,000.
Chart 13: Occupation Employment Change Compared to February 2020

Economic Indicators

Underlying the employment trends are a number of economic indicators. In Chart 14, graphs one to four show data drawn from Statistics Canada’s data on travel between Canada and other countries. Graph one shows the number of non-resident travellers entering Canada (from the U.S. and from all other countries), which includes all travellers crossing the border who are travelling to Canada for a period of less than 12 months. Graph two shows the number of tourists entering Canada. International tourists are a subset of travellers, whose trip includes one or more overnight stays. Graphs three and four compare the number of travellers and tourists from the U.S. and from other countries. Graph five shows the percentage of travellers to Canada who are tourists.

Graphs six and seven show data drawn from the monthly operating statistics of major Canadian airlines. The graphs show airlines’ total operating revenues and the total number of passengers per month, both of which have dropped precipitously. Graph eight shows the number of aircraft movements at airports with NAV Canada towers. Aircraft movement data is more current than data for operating revenue and monthly passenger movements. The final graph shows the total number of sales at food service and drinking establishments in Canada by month and region.

Chart 14: Economic Indicators

Mobility

Chart 15 displays data on mobility, provided by Google. These weekly updates show how often (relative to a baseline of zero) individuals in Canada are going to parks or retail and recreation environments. Please note that mobility data do not identify the specific activities or reasons for which people are attending parks, retail and recreation areas.

Chart 15: Mobility Changes (Parks and Retail & Recreation)

Additional Tourism Resources

For information on tourism in Canada, including tourism supply and demand, tourism performance, and traveller profiles, explore the Canadian Tourism Data Collective. For information on global tourism, visit the United Nations (UN) Tourism Data Dashboard and the United Nations (UN) Tourism Barometer.

Monthly Canadian Tourism Labour Market Snapshots

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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.

Source: Adapted from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.