Industry Overview
In Canada, travel and tourism touches almost every sector of the economy. It generates $74 billion in economic activity annually, with an impact that is equivalent to that of the fisheries, forestry and agriculture sectors combined.
- Travel and Tourism is a job driver – 617,300 jobs were attributable to tourism spending in 2010. More than 1.6 million Canadians hold a job in the tourism sector – 1 in 10 Canadian workers.
- Tourism is an export business generating over $15 billion in currency exchange. U.S. and International visitors account for approximately 115 million person nights in Canada.
- Tourism generates taxpayer value. Approximately 28 cents of every tourism dollar spent in Canada contributes to tax revenues, resulting in more than $19 billion in revenue for all levels of government and a federal share of $8.8 billion.
Tourism is one of the fastest growing economic sectors globally, with annual growth outpacing the world economy. Travel and Tourism can drive economic growth and diversity in every province and region across the country. Together, they form one of the fastest growing sectors in the global economy.
Other Key Indices
- Globally, as an export category, tourism reached US$ 1.1 trillion in 2008, or US$ 3 billion a day, and ranks fourth after fuels, chemicals and automotive products.
- Canada's tourism gross domestic product was $30 billion in 2010, a 7% increase over the previous year.
- The total of number of overnight visitors from the U.S. was 11.7 million, up 0.7%.
- There were 4.3 million overnight trips from all other countries in 2009, up 6.8% over 2009.
- Tourism accounts for roughly 2% of Canada's total GDP. This places us significantly behind most other G-20 nations, including Australia (3.7%), Russia (3.3%), Germany (3.2%), Brazil (2.7%) and the UK (2.7%).
- The UNWTO has ranked Canada 125th in the world with regards to our aviation cost structure.
- 2.2 million Canadians are driving across the border to use US airports.