2021 Successes

• After months of advocating for sector specific support, Bill C-2 passed on December 17th. The new support ensures Canada's Tourism Industry; the "Hardest Hit Sector" will continue to receive wage and rent relief and save thousands of businesses and jobs. LINK
• TIAC welcomed the reintroduction of a Minister of Tourism with the appointment of the Honourable Randy Boissonnault as the new Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance. LINK
• Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program : We knew that the wage and rent subsidy programs were slated to sunset at the end of October. So, we continued to push for a tailored solution. A demonstration of our efforts came when, as the first commitment on the campaign trail, Prime Minister Trudeau announced support for the hardest hit sectors, including a transition program that was very much aligned with the survival plan the Coalition had been advocating for. TIAC wrote many letters, made many phone calls, set up many meetings with Members of Parliament, Department officials and Senators, and appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance, as well as countless times in the media fighting for this bill. In December, we saw the greatest acknowledgement of these efforts. Bill C2: An Act to provide further support in response to COVID-19 was passed by both the House of Commons and the Senate. LINK
• The Prime Minister announced a standardized Canadian COVID-19 proof of vaccination, noting that Canada was engaging with international partners to obtain recognition abroad, so the tool could be used to facilitate travel around the world. This was a win for the tourism industry as TIAC had been advocating for one pan Canadian proof of vaccination system. We know that since then there is much confusion regarding the Omicron variant and the changing travel rules and restrictions. Our biggest priority through this is clarity for the industry, and ensuring we continue to advocate for one process. As we start to see provinces and territories reacting with their own measures, we need to ensure we are vocalizing the need to not move backwards into a fragmented system. LINK
• The U.S. accepted travelers immunized with vaccines approved by the WHO– including Canadians who have received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Encouraged to see this as TIAC continues to advocate for a national proof of vaccination in Canada, and for travelers with vaccinations approved by the WHO - in addition to those approved by Health Canada - to be welcomed back.LINK
• The lifting of the government's international ban on non-essential travel was very welcome as we continue to build consumer confidence in travel again. TIAC advocated for this through the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses.
• The ban on cruise in Canadian waters was rescinded four months early due to advocacy work. Effective November 1, 2021, cruise ships were permitted in Canadian waters. Canada is working with the cruise ship industry, and other domestic and international partners, to support safe cruise ship travel in spring 2022. This allowed for ability to plan for 2022 season.LINK
• TIAC has been working tirelessly with industry partners requesting targeted support for the tourism industry. The TRF provided $500 Million in support for the tourism sector over a two-year period. The majority of the funding, $485 million, will be delivered by Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) directly to tourism businesses and organizations to help aide in the creation of new tourism experiences, or enhance existing ones. Of this $485 million, a minimum of 10% will be invested in Indigenous tourism projects.LINK
• TIAC announced the launch of the #OpentheBorder campaign, calling on the federal government to commit to a plan for reopening the Canada-U.S. border. The campaign focused on getting Canadian decision-makers to acknowledge the urgent need and to commit to a date to open the border, before the summer tourism season was lost. As a part of this campaign, TIAC hosted a number of Parliamentary and Congressional panels to discuss border reopening. The first included Beth Potter, MP Wayne Easter, Congressman Brian Higgins, and political reporter Althia Raj.
• Two press conferences with ALL PTTIAs (13) involved and supporting Tourism Week and the Open the Border campaign
• TIAC formed a national Cruise Committee, comprised of representatives from the five cruise regions: Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Northern Canada. This advisory committee works hand in hand with TIAC to identify cruise-related issues and provide recommendations.
• Relaunch of Tourism Round Table - TIAC as Co Chair. The Roundtable is focused on raising awareness on the barriers to travel and tourism caused by restrictions and testing requirements. We know there are more effective ways to protecting Canadians while also encouraging and facilitating travel.LINK
• Sector-specific acknowledgment for tourism in 2021 Federal Budget. LINK
• Hosted Industry Webinars providing updates on industry support efforts and partner plans. LINK
• Launch of TIAC 'Member Talk' - a monthly session open to membership to ask questions to the TIAC senior team. LINK
• Coordination of Town Hall events in partnership with Destination Canada and provincial and territorial associations. LINK
• Government announced a program change to CEWS to base year-to-date revenue comparison on 2019 revenue. LINK
• Coordinating the 2021 Tourism Week campaign for industry coast to coast to coast. Encouraging Canadians to take the Tourism Week pledge to travel in Canada this year. TIAC and tourism Week was featured on many significant media outlets. Tourism Week kicked off with a press conference held on May 21 at 11am EST. Representatives from every Provincial and Territorial Association were in attendance, as well as Destination Canada. A big focus of this year’s Tourism Week was on showcasing the solidarity of the industry, and celebrating its resilience. 34 individual media registered for the conference, including CBC, National Geographic and the Globe and Mail. A press release was distributed following the conference, followed by press releases each day from May 23 – May 30. TIAC highlighted a different region of the country each day of Tourism Week. LINK
• Coordination and execution of 2021 virtual advocacy days including TIAC Board Members in advance of the 2021 Federal Budget. Coordinated our first-ever, virtual Hill Week, online meetings with over 100 MPs.. LINK
• Launch of the 2021 Tourism Recovery Plan developed by the Tourism Recovery Committee. Comprised of tourism leaders from across Canada, representing all sectors of the visitor economy. It produced 2 reports with recommendations. This group met on a weekly basis to share status updates, ideas, and participate in dialogue on challenges and priorities for policy change and emergency support programs. LINK
• RRRF Funding Dedicated to Tourism outlined in Fall Economic Statement.
• Through TIAC's advocacy, HASCAP rollout was expedited and became available to industry in February 2021. LINK
• Elevating Canadian Experiences National Program delivered more than 100 capacity-building sessions in both culinary tourism development and winter/shoulder season development to over 4000 tourism operators and destination partners in 2020 and early 2021. We also supported the development of nine regional tourism development strategies. We also developed a suite of legacy tools from the program that is available to all Canadian tourism operators and destination partners. LINK
• Deployment of a weekly COVID-19 update outlining media and advocacy updates for the industry. LINK
• The undertaking of no less than six industry surveys including analysis of data and dissemination of information to stakeholders and partners on the state of the industry as well as the federal government on the effectiveness of relief programs. LINK