On August 2, TIAC submitted its list of recommendations as part of the pre-budget consultations in advance of the 2019 federal budget.

This document is crucial in raising awareness of the importance of Canada’s tourism industry to policy makers, as well as the issues that are hampering its growth and the actions that need to be taken to move the industry forward.

The six recommendations outlined in the document highlight the need for improvement in four key areas of Canada’s growing tourism sector: Labour, Access, Cost Competitiveness and Marketing Funding.

Here is a summary of the recommendations:

1. Streamline the visa application process and ensure the introduction of biometric requirements does not hamper tourism growth.
2. Reduce taxes paid by international visitors by removing the GST on tourism products and reduce fees, levies and taxes on air travel.
3. Make Destination Canada more competitive with a hybrid funding model for with increased base funding, plus incremental annual performance increases.
4. The government of Canada should use industry labour need as the main determiner to access all immigration streams, regardless of skill level.
5. Invest in skills/capacity building and employment programs by promoting tourism career options in ESDC and IRCC programming and to under-represented labour groups such as Indigenous youth and people with disabilities.
6. The government should adopt a ‘whole-of-government’ approach to tourism that prioritizes the sector and ensures better consultation among internal departments and the industry on policies and regulations.

With the document now submitted for review by policy makers, our work has only just begun. We will continue advocating strongly for our members’ best interests over the coming months. Stay tuned for updates!

See the full submission