Question Period Note: Workforce Challenges for Tourism

What is the Government of Canada doing to address workforce issues in the tourism sector?

• Canada’s tourism workforce is an essential component of the tourism sector. A warm and welcoming visitor experience is a key part of Canada’s competitive advantage.

• The Government of Canada recognizes that workforce issues continue to challenge the tourism sector some of which were exacerbated by the pandemic, particularly within accommodation and food services, and has introduced a series of initiatives in order to help address labour shortages.

• For example, in Budget 2023, the government introduced multiple measures, including extending support for seasonal Employment Insurance claimants by providing up to five additional weeks—for a maximum of 45 weeks—for eligible seasonal workers.

• In 2019, tourism directly supported almost 692,000 jobs and was the number one youth employer in Canada, which it remains. In 2022, nearly one in 10 jobs in Canada was in tourism-related industries. However, COVID-19 exacerbated pre-existing labour challenges in the tourism industry, both domestically and globally, and stakeholders as well as provincial and territorial counterparts have expressed concerns.
• In 2022, 1.87 million people worked in tourism industries, compared to 2.08 million people in 2019, a decrease of about 10%. The situation has begun to improve with approximately 1.9 million people working in tourism in April 2023. Yet, accommodation and food services continue to have the highest job vacancy rate in the Canadian economy, reporting 86,075 job vacancies in January 2023. As a result, the government has funded Tourism HR Canada (THRC) for several projects to help the tourism workforce bounce back including:
o $3.5 million to develop a strategy/framework and tools aimed at addressing systemic and structural issues that will help to address workforce shortages and training needs, and set a foundation for growth for the Canadian Tourism Industry (National Priorities Stream-ISED);
o $4 million over three years for Tourism Workforce Recovery which will help restore jobs and build resilience with tools to connect job seekers to tourism jobs (Employment and Social Development Canada-ESDC);
• The federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for tourism meet through the Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers (CCTM) forum, which includes the Tourism Workforce Working Group, one of the forum’s three areas of focus. This working group looked at how best to support the retention and re-attraction of workers, and approaches that foster the entry of new potential labour pools. The Working Group developed a report highlighting opportunities for underrepresented groups (i.e. Indigenous peoples, youth, newcomers) in the tourism sector and barriers such as housing availability and seasonality. The report and recommendations will be shared with Ministers at the upcoming CCTM meeting in October 2023.

• Many tourism workers left the sector during the pandemic as a result of safety concerns and frequent lockdowns. A November 2020 Leger opinion poll found that 54% of tourism workers had a negative view of their sector. THRC does not expect these workers will return to the sector due to competition from other (higher-paying) sectors, such as public administration, health care and information technology. While there have been some overall gains in filling positions since the initial impacts of COVID-19, travel demand is still outpacing available labour to service increasing business needs. Recruitment challenges are varied but include: lower than normal returns of seasonal workers, wages that do not keep up with inflation and hampered access to international talent.
• Digitalization of tourism services is expected to accelerate, with higher use of automation, contactless services and virtual experiences. The Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) is available to help support tourism businesses in their digital adoption journey, which may help alleviate some workforce challenges. Eligible businesses will receive micro-grants and access to zero-interest financing to help offset the costs of going digital. CDAP also provides training and work placements for young Canadians.
• As travel demand surged after COVID-19, increasing shortages in the aviation subsector have disrupted the recovery and growth of Canada’s tourism economy. Addressing aviation shortages is noted as a priority across jurisdictions and many programs have been initiated to reduce barriers to enter the field. For example, Alberta’s Aviation Skills Grant supports the training and reskilling of employers in the aviation and aerospace industries by providing up to $30,000 per trainee to offset training and costs for new and unfilled jobs. There is a large opportunity to support underrepresented populations to enter the aviation sector, as women make up only 7% of pilots and 5.5% of aircraft mechanics/inspectors and Indigenous peoples make up 3.5% of the aviation workforce.

• In order to address the workforce challenges within the tourism sector; the Government of Canada has implemented a series of initiatives, including:
o Funding for Tourism HR Canada (THRC) for several projects, including $3.5 million to develop a strategy/framework and tools aimed at addressing workforce shortages and training needs, and to set a foundation for growth for the Canadian tourism industry; funding administered through the National Priorities Stream (NPS). NPS was part of the $1 billion in tourism supports in Budget 2021.
o The Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP) that pairs skilled refugees and other qualified, displaced individuals with Canadian employers who need to overcome labour shortages in key occupations, including in tourism and hospitality.
o Temporary changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program that allows sectors with demonstrated labour shortages to hire up to 30% of their workforce for low-wage positions for one year (up from 10%).
o Extending work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers. By extending work permits, it is estimated that family members of more than 200,000 foreign workers could begin working in Canada.