With Canadian Jobs Numbers Down, Can Tourism Provide A Boost?

As Canadians waited for the release of November 2019’s job numbers this December, experts were anxious. Employment was expected to have dropped, despite strong showings in finance among other sectors. Faced with a potentially serious downturn, though, there’s one sector that represents particular promise for the Canadian economy: tourism. As in many countries, Canada relies heavily on tourism, with small towns particularly connected to the travel ecosystem. But will changes to broader travel trends also pull Canadian jobs away from where they’re needed most?

Small Town Travel

Canada’s biggest cities thrive on tourism – the industry generated over $10 billion for Toronto in 2018 – but these cities would be fine without tourism. They easily generate jobs across a range of industries, from tech to finance to conventional retail. It’s small towns that are more dramatically impacted by shifts in tourism trends.

Remote Canadian towns as well as small border communities have worked hard to appeal to travelers, but it’s a hard sell. If you’re willing to travel yet another 1,000 miles north beyond Winnipeg, for example, you can see the town of Churchill, home to just about 900 year-round residents. And people do travel all that way. Why? To see the polar bears. In the course of five or six weeks each year, during what’s known as bear season, about 10,000 people visit Churchill. It’s a peculiar niche, and not really enough to keep the town afloat year-round, but without it, there’d likely be nothing left to Churchill, which is currently attempting to revitalize its port.

Boosting The Numbers

Given the importance of tourism to the Canadian economy, Canada hopes to bolster visitor numbers by making it easier to enter the country. One way they’re doing this is by offering those coming from certain countries, including the US, an easier way of entering the country. These travelers may not need visas, but they do need travel authorizations, which they can now apply for online. The electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) program only takes about 10 minutes to complete and is valid for up to five years with a valid passport. It’s a simple strategy that industry experts hope will attract visitors.

Another factor that could influence whether and where people travel in Canada is the new interest in indigenous communities. While Canada’s First Nation’s groups have long struggled to build bridges with settler groups, they now benefit from the active engagement of provincial tourism departments. British Colombia, like other provinces, have developed programs promoting First Nations’ cultural programming, from museums to cooking and more. For groups that have long been on the economic margins, increased tourist interest is a powerful force for financial well-being.

Even if other jobs numbers continue to decline, tourism is likely to remain vibrant – it already supports 4.6% of Toronto jobs and likely an even greater percentage in smaller areas with lower population density. For those small towns to continue benefitting from visitor money, though, they’ll have to remain focused on revitalization. It’s too easy for these small communities to fall off the map, leaving a financial gap where tourists used to be. And revitalization could drive more jobs, a reminder that tourism fuels Canada’s economy in more ways than one.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.