Program directory · Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Tourism
- Program code
- BNP16 (ISC)
- Core responsibility
- Companies, Investment and Growth
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Tourism program is responsible for federal tourism policy development and integration, including Canada’s Tourism Growth Strategy, to bring greater consistency to the policies and programs that support growth in the Canadian tourism sector. The program works with other federal government departments and agencies, tourism industry representatives, and provincial and territorial governments to address current and emerging tourism issues and opportunities in support of a competitive tourism sector in Canada. The program is also the policy liaison between the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Destination Canada, and is the federal secretariat for the Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers as well as the Federal Minister’s Tourism Council. The program also supports the Minister’s involvement and active participation in international fora. This program supports the departmental result “Canadian businesses and industries are innovative and growing” under the Companies, Investment and Growth core responsibility and includes the following transfer payment program: Indigenous Tourism Fund.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tourism | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $67.4M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Renamed from “Tourism Policy” to “Tourism”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2022-23 | Spending $16M, against $3.3M in 2021-22 (+383%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Number of direct jobs as a result of tourism revenue; Spending by tourists (combined domestic and international tourists) | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Amount spent by international tourists to Canada (in dollars); Number of international overnight visitors to Canada | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025 | Budget 2025 measure “Renewing the Indigenous Tourism Fund”: $6M in total over its years (linked to this program by name, a best-effort match). | Budget 2025, PDF page 284 |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $3.1M, against $16.8M in 2024-25 (−82%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ $25B | 2021 | $3.65B 2020 Final Year Result. Amount spent by international tourists was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to limited arrivals. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ $25B | 2021 | $4.81B While borders reopened to international travelers beginning in August of 2021, international tourism revenue was still severely limited by: border measures in Canada and in target markets, limited flight availabilities into Canada and ongoing surges of COVID-19 into the Winter with the emergence of the omicron variant. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ $9.4B | 2023 | $20.2B | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 25,973,134 | 2021 | 2,959,885 2020 Final Year Result. Tourist arrivals were severely limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 534K arrivals took place from Apr-Dec 2020, with the remaining 2.5M taking place from Jan-March, before border closures. | Not met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 25,973,134 | 2021 | 3,488,281 Tourist arrivals were still severely limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While borders reopened to international travelers beginning in August of 2021, travel was still impacted by: border measures in Canada and in target markets, limited flight availabilities into Canada and ongoing surges of COVID-19 into the Winter with the emergence of the omicron variant. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 9,400,000 | 2023 | 12,824,092 | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
No indicators in the 2026-27 plan.
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 790,000 | 2031 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ $157B | 2031 | — | Planned |
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $2.6M | $6.8M |
| 2019-20 | $3.2M | $4.8M |
| 2020-21 | $3.5M | $4.4M |
| 2021-22 | $2.7M | $3.3M |
| 2022-23 | $11.8M | $16M |
| 2023-24 | $3.5M | $15.3M |
| 2024-25 | $15.5M | $16.8M |
| 2025-26 | $3.1M | — |
| 2026-27 | $3.1M | — |
| 2027-28 | $3.1M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $3.1M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 16 | 32 |
| 2019-20 | 33 | 27 |
| 2020-21 | 27 | 26 |
| 2021-22 | 27 | 25 |
| 2022-23 | 26 | 29 |
| 2023-24 | 28 | 31 |
| 2024-25 | 31 | 29 |
| 2025-26 | 27 | — |
| 2026-27 | 27 | — |
| 2027-28 | 27* | — |
| 2028-29 | 27* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $2,647,246 | $2,647,246 | $2,647,246 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $3,230,505 | $3,230,505 | $2,937,505 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $3,502,533 | $2,728,447 | $2,736,734 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $2,748,373 | $2,756,660 | $2,756,660 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $11,762,523 | $2,761,034 | $2,761,034 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $3,529,334 | $2,841,096 | $2,841,096 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $15,491,662 | $3,046,010 | $3,016,654 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $3,085,605 | $3,056,413 | $3,056,413 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $3,103,591 | $3,103,591 | $3,103,591 | ||||||||
| Actual | $6,774,432 | $4,821,238 | $4,386,229 | $3,312,416 | $16,001,506 | $15,256,496 | $16,844,109 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
