On Monday, April 19th, the federal government unveiled the 2021 Budget. TIAC’s 2021 Tourism Recovery Plan had been presented as a roadmap to government on the path forward during the many meetings we held over the past few months in anticipation of this budget.

Leading up to last week's announcement, TIAC held more than 50 meetings and met with over 100 MPs and political influencers from coast-to-coast-to coast.

TIAC was featured recently in both the Lobby Monitor and The Hill Times as the most active organization in the month of March in terms of lobbying at the federal level. “The Tourism industry was the first hit, hardest hit, and we’re going to be the last to recover. We needed to make sure that in this budget, the first in two years, that we did everything we could to ensure our industry was not forgotten and there would be ongoing support for the industry as we move through the different waves,” said Beth Potter in a comment to the Hill Times. 

As a result of these efforts, a number of outlined recommendations were addressed, and we were pleased to see the specific mention and support outlined for tourism in the budget document. Thank you to all you for your support, and to those of you who wrote a letter to your MP in advance of the budget.

Sector specific supports are summarized here: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/The-2021-Federal-Budget-Announcement.html?soid=1103726288554&aid=vJYEO1cIdPg

Our President and CEO, Beth Potter, held a Member’s Only webinar to discuss the tourism specific supports and how they impact you and your business. In case you missed it, the recording can be found here: https://tiac-aitc.ca/cgi/page.cgi/Member_Webinars.html

Moving forward, TIAC has a number of meetings scheduled with offices of the Ministers of Economic Development and Finance, as well as tourism champions from all parties to discuss the support identified to help the Tourism Industry and how to move it forward and ensure the much-needed help is delivered efficiently. TIAC looks forward to continued collaboration with government on the intricacies and roll out of these programs.

We know that 2021 is a critical year for the restart of Canada’s tourism economy.

It is reassuring that our sector is being acknowledged and that its unique needs are being recognized as we continue to look for hope of recovery through the pandemic, but we know that there is much work to do for the sector. Our first step will be to continue advocating for those pieces that were not addressed in the budget, and to ensure effective deployment of the promised support and relief programs.  In addition, we will investigate all non-sector specific funding programs mentioned throughout the budget to see how they can support our industry.

We are also facilitating conversations to present a blue print to government on the path to recovery and border re-openings.

In addition, our plan forward includes finding greater opportunities to engage with you, our valued members.  Please save the date for our next Member TALK, scheduled for May 11 from 2:00 - 3:00 pm EDT.  During this open discussion and informal gathering with TIAC President and CEO, Beth Potter, you will have an opportunity to ask questions, get involved, and learn more about what TIAC is doing for you.

If you have any questions about our advocacy and plans ahead - or would like to share your experience, please send an email to beth@tiac-aitc.ca.