Workers and businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government of Canada has a plan to support hard-hit sectors, help businesses adapt and thrive, and give Canadians the skills they need to find good jobs as our economy continues to recover.

“The Government is working closely with the tourism and hospitality sector to help address challenges they face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding announced today helps businesses get back on their feet and attract and retain the skilled workers the tourism industry needs. Not only are we supporting Canadians who traditionally face barriers to the labour market and providing workers the support they need to find good jobs, we are also helping the tourism sector bounce back.”
– Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough

“The Canadian tourism sector has been among the most impacted by COVID-19 and the economy of our country will not fully recover until tourism recovers. The funding announced today will help businesses address labour shortages by bringing in and keeping skilled workers, building capacity and ensuring inclusion and diversity in the tourism labour force. Canada’s tourism labour force is key – our welcoming workforce is one of our best assets and we’ll continue to work with partners to ensure they are even better positioned to safely welcome back guests when it is possible to do so.”

– Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Randy Boissonnault

• These 24 projects were selected through an open call for proposals process that ran from January 22, 2021 to March 4, 2021.

• The tourism and hospitality sector has been one of the hardest hit sectors by the pandemic. According to the Conference Board of Canada’s Briefing: COVID-19 Impact on Tourism Sector Employment and Revenues, it is expected that employment in the sector will remain below 2019 levels until 2023.

• Outbreaks of COVID-19 that resulted in lockdowns caused tourism employment to drop anywhere from 15% to 23%. As of April 2021, tourism employed 520,000 fewer workers than it had in February 2020, the last month before the pandemic reached Canada, an employment drop of over 25%.

• The tourism and hospitality sector is a significant source of employment for young workers and newcomers. In 2019, youth (persons age 15–24) held more jobs in tourism than any other age group, representing 34% of Canada’s tourism workforce, and 28% of tourism employees were immigrants or non-permanent residents.

• The Sectoral Initiatives Program will be integrated into the new Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program (SWSP), which received $960 million through Budget 2021 to support key sectors of the economy to implement industry-driven solutions to address current and emerging workforce needs.

• The SWSP will help employers find skilled workers and connect Canadians with the training they need. It will also provide workers who have been displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic with training opportunities. This program will help businesses and workers prepare for workforce transitions in the rapidly changing green economy, address labour shortages in sectors like healthcare, and help our economy grow.  

• The SWSP will have an expanded scope for large-scale projects that offer a broader range of sector-focused activities, including training and upskilling, and developing solutions for workforce challenges.

• The SWSP is anticipated to launch calls for proposals in January 2022.

Related products

• Backgrounder

Associated links

• Sectoral Initiatives Program
• Backgrounder: Budget 2021 Job Creation
• ESDC Funding Page

For media enquiries, please contact:

Codie Taylor
Interim Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough
codie.taylor@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

Media Relations Office
Employment and Social Development Canada
819-994-5559
media@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
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