Tourism in Canada: Difference between revisions

Tourism activity, 2024

Economic impact
Total revenues	$104.4 billion
Contribution to GDP	$41.0 billion
Portion of GDP	1.8%
Spending by source
Domestic	$74.8 billion
U.S. residents	$15.6 billion
Overseas residents	$12.9 billion
Workforce
Businesses	265,800
Direct jobs	702,700
Supporting jobs	1.8 million
Portion of labor force	10%

Tourism in Canada is a major economic driver, attracting millions of visitors and supporting approximately 10% of the national labor force. In recent years, statistics show that Canada has received over 20 million international tourists annually. The summer months are especially popular for travelers both domestically and internationally. The economic impact of tourism in Canada is substantial, contributing over $100 billion to the national economy in 2024. The sector supports nearly 1.8 million Canadians working in tourism-related fields.

Air travel is a significant factor influencing tourism with cruise ship activity bringing visitors to port cities. The United States historically has been the largest source of inbound tourists, followed by the United Kingdom and other European countries. Visitors from Asia have become more popular in recent decades. Domestic tourism in Canada is a major factor, with statistics indicating that, in 2024, about 70% of all tourism spending came from Canadian residents exploring their own country. Statistics indicate that travel within provinces often remains strong, with residents supporting local businesses and attractions.

Federal and provincial government initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable tourism and attracting foreign tourists play a major role in the industry. Canada is known for its safety and security, atracting tourists through its natural features (e.g., Niagara falls), festivals (e.g., Calgary stampede), arts (e.g., Toronto International Film Festival), heritage sites (e.g., Quebec city) and it’s diverse culture (e.g., Caribbean Carnival). It’s national parks like Banff and Jasper see millions of visitors annually, drawn by their landscapes and outdoor activities. Natural wonders such as the Great Bear Rainforest, the Northern Lights, the Bay of Fundy, Hopewell Rocks and Moraine Lake atract numerous international and domestic tourist during all four seasons.

According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Canada is ranks 11th out of 116 countries studied. The index shows that Canada has a low standing when it comes to Price Competitiveness, coming in at 101 out of 116 countries looked at globally.^[2]

In 2024 total spending by visitors from the U. S. was $15.6 billion (78.7% of trips), while overseas visitors spent $12.9 billion (21.3% of trips). Canadians spent a total of $74.8 billion while traveling within Canada, with the highest spending on transportation (34.3%), followed by food and beverages (25.8%), accommodations (21.6%), recreation and entertainment (9.4%), clothing and gifts (3.7%), and other expenses (5.2%). Conversely, visitors from abroad spent most on accommodations (35.8%), food and beverages (26.6%), and transportation (13.2%).^[3]

Ontario was the most visited province in Canada, receiving 39.8% of Canadian visitors and 41.8% of visitors from abroad. Quebec followed with 20.3% of Canadian visitors and 14.8% of international visitors, while British Columbia received 11.9% of Canadian visitors and 26.7% of visitors from abroad.^[3]

Canadians made a total of 42.9 million visits abroad, with the top five countries visited being the United States (30.2 million visits), Mexico (2.2 million), the Dominican Republic (1.0 million), the United Kingdom (829,000), and Italy (784,000). Visitors from other countries made 29.8 million trips to Canada, primarily from the United States (23.5 million), followed by the United Kingdom (843,000), France (642,000), India (439,000), and Mexico (432,000).^[3]

In 2023, non-Canadian visitors made 27.2 million trips to Canada, with U.S. residents contributing the most, accounting for 21.2 million of those trips. The total spending by tourists reached $12.9 billion for U.S. residents and $12.6 billion for overseas visitors.^[4]

Historically, tourists to Canada were predominantly Americans, making up 98% of visitors in 1947. By 2015, this number dropped to 70%, reflecting a rise in overseas tourists. The number of overseas visitors grew faster than U. S. tourists over the decades. Between 1960 and 1970, there was a notable increase of over six times in overseas tourists, while American tourist numbers decreased during the 1970s.^[5]

In 1946, around 4 million tourists visited Canada, and this number grew to over 15 million by 1967, largely due to the rise in commercial air travel. The visitor count continued to increase until 2002 when it topped 20 million, before experiencing a decline largely caused by a drop in American tourists. Factors that contributed to this downturn included the SARS outbreak in 2003, the rise in the Canadian dollar, stricter ID laws introduced in 2009, and the global recession of 2008-2009. After these challenges, tourism numbers rebounded to nearly 18 million in 2015.^[5]

From 1960 to 1970, the number of overseas tourists increased more than sixfold. Conversely, American tourist numbers grew by only 55% during the 1960s and fell by 16% in the 1970s. The trend of increasing overseas tourists continued into the late 1990s, reaching 4 million for the first time during that decade.^[5]

The number of trips taken by Canadians abroad also increased significantly. From 1946 to 1960, trips to both the U. S. and overseas more than tripled. This growth continued, peaking at nearly 35 million trips by 2014. Travel trends for Canadians have often mirrored the value of the Canadian dollar; when the dollar depreciated in the 1990s, trips abroad declined, but this figure rose again after 2002 as the dollar appreciated.^[5]

Canada welcomed 32 million visitors in 2019, with Toronto and Vancouver drawing the most attention. However, the COVID-19 epidemic had a significant influence on the tourism sector..^[6] April 2020 was the first complete month when countries around the world started to limit border access, which nearly halted international travel to and from Canada. The count of arrivals from countries other than the United States dropped by 96.6%, and those coming from the United States decreased by 96.8%.^[7] By June 2022, over two years later, and the number of international travelers arriving at Canadian airports was almost back to what it was before the pandemic hit. It was estimated that 846,700 non-resident visitors came in, which was a big jump from the 26,200 arrivals seen in June 2021.^[7] Canadians accounted for 85.8% of all tourism spending in early 2022, including 315,400 foreign visitors to Canada in May 2022. Almost ten times as many American tourists visited Canada in May compared to the year before, and similar increases were seen from other countries. In May 2019, 73.6% of all air travel comprised 593,200 Canadians who travelled to the United States.^[6]

There are 22 World Heritage Sites in Canada, including one of the oldest, Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories (1978), and one of the newest, the Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta (2019). Of these 22 sites, 10 are listed for their Cultural Heritage, 11 for their Natural Heritage, and one (Pimachiowin Aki) is a Mixed site.^[8]

Alberta is a province in Canada’s western prairies next to the Rocky Mountains. Its two major cities are Calgary and Edmonton, the province’s capital. Edmonton is well known for West Edmonton Mall, the largest shopping mall in North America, formerly the largest in the world. Edmonton is also known as Canada’s festival city, with over 60 festivals happening year round. Edmonton is home to the area of Old Strathcona, a historical district with boutique shopping, music, arts, and many restaurants. Calgary is famous for the Calgary Stampede, the world’s largest rodeo and one of the biggest open air events worldwide attracting up to 1.5 million visitors every year.

Another world-class attraction is the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller, home to 5 Guinness World Records due to its unique collection of dinosaur fossils including the longest-necked animal‘s skeleton in the world.^[9][10] Alberta also contains significant natural scenery, including six of Canada’s twenty UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These are Banff and Jasper National Parks, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Wood Buffalo National Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. In the southeast, Alberta shares with Saskatchewan the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, a geographic region of importance both to Indigenous history and to the North-West Mounted Police.

Alberta is an important skiing destination for tourists. It has several world-class ski resorts. Canada Olympic Park, with its downhill ski and ski jumping facilities, is in the city of Calgary.

British Columbia is Canada’s westernmost province and touches the Pacific Ocean.^[11] The winters in the coastal areas are relatively warm in comparison to the rest of Canada. British Columbia is divided into 6 regions:

• Vancouver, Coast & Mountains
• Thompson Okanagan
• Cariboo Coast Chilcotin
• Northern British Columbia
• Kootenay Rockies
• Vancouver Island

British Columbia is Canada’s most mountainous province and has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. Alpine skiing is a major draw for the province. The province has about 33 large ski resorts spread out from Vancouver Island to the Alberta border. Whistler, British Columbia, nestled in the rugged Coast Mountains, is consistently ranked as the #1 ski resort destination in North America^[12] and co-hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

Vancouver, the largest Canadian metropolitan area west of Toronto, is one of Canada’s most multi-cultural cities. There is a large community of people of Asian origin.^[13] Vancouver is a harbour city and provides beautiful landscapes of mountains and ocean.

• Capilano Suspension Bridge, a 136-metre-long (446 ft) bridge 70 m above the Capilano River
• Stanley Park, a large forested park near downtown, the largest city owned park in Canada. Eight million visitors each year.
• Granville Island, a small island near downtown with a public market, marina, shopping and theatres.
• Chinatown, Vancouver, one of the largest in North America.
• Robson Street, a bustling upscale shopping district with a good selection of restaurants.
• Gastown, a mix of tourist-oriented businesses, restaurants and nightclubs.
• Vancouver Art Gallery
• Vancouver Maritime Museum
• Museum of Anthropology at UBC
• Vancouver Museum
• Science World at Telus World of Science

Vancouver is home to the

Victoria, British Columbia, on scenic Vancouver Island, is a major Canadian tourist destination attracting millions of visitors each year. Popular activities for tourists are whale watching, enjoying the busking in the inner harbour area and visiting world-famous Butchart Gardens.

Long Beach (Pacific Rim National Park) and the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet are popular tourist areas. Tofino, a town of only a few thousand, hosts more than one million visitors each year. Many new resorts are being built in the area to accommodate surfers, beach lovers, storm watchers and golfers.

Whale watching is common along the coastal areas of British Columbia as is Pacific storm watching along the west coast of Vancouver Island during the winter months.

Wine tours are common in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia’s wine and orchard country. The Okanagan Valley area has some of the best beaches and warmest summer temperatures in Canada, as well as Canada’s only hot desert around the town of Osoyoos. There are 53 golf courses and two major ski resorts in the valley.

British Columbia is also a popular location for the production of many Hollywood films; it is the third largest film centre in North America only trailing California and New York.

Manitoba is home to many lakes and rivers with over 14.5% of the land area covered by lakes. This offers many opportunities for outdoor recreation, hunting, fishing, boating, and some of the finest beaches in North America, including Grand Beach, Victoria Beach and Winnipeg Beach. The province is a four-season travel destination offering cross-country and downhill skiing opportunities, as well as many miles of groomed ski-doo trails. Winnipeg, the province’s capital, offers every season a world class skating trail. Using the Red River and the Assiniboine River, Winnipeg has created the world’s longest skating trail since 2008, including the all-time record. Churchill on the Hudson Bay is a popular attraction due to the large polar bear and beluga whale populations.

As the capital city, Winnipeg, with a population of near 815,000, offers many cultural and artistic events, museums and year-round festivals. Brandon, Manitoba is a city of 56,000. Other cities with more than 10,000 people are Steinbach, Thompson, Portage la Prairie, Selkirk and Winkler. Winnipeg has one of the best architectural settings in Canada. Half of its downtown consists of high-rise buildings from 1880 to 1920. It also has the famous Exchange District, which is known as North America’s best collection of architecture wonders. Setting from 1850 to 1920 the area of 56 square blocks has kept 95% of its historical buildings. Giving the tourist setting as they are walking in what Winnipeg looked like in 1920.

Winnipeg is also home to:

New Brunswick is renowned for its sandy beaches especially along the Northumberland Strait, which in summer has the warmest water north of Virginia.

Saint John, a large city in New Brunswick and the oldest incorporated in Canada, sits at the mouth of the Saint John River. It is steeped with history, from the Irish immigration to a great fire in the 1877. The port city has numerous Victorian houses and 18th- and 19th-century architecture in the uptown area. The Saint John port welcomes close to 80 cruise ships a year with sites including:

Moncton, the province’s largest city and recreational centre, has the following tourist attractions:

Fredericton, the province’s capital and third largest city, is a cultural and educational centre, housing the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University, and is filled with neighbourhoods featuring large Victorian-style homes. Other attractions at Fredericton include:

Newfoundland and Labrador attracts many tourists because of its icebergs and fjords. The iceberg that struck the Titanic passed by on the nearby Iceberg Alley in 1912. The island was settled by Leif Ericsson, an Icelandic sailor, in 1000 A.D. Remains of this settlement can still be found in L’Anse aux Meadows, northern Newfoundland. Other Europeans settled in 1497, headed by an expedition by John Cabot.

The province’s capital, St. John’s, is the oldest city in North America, founded in 1497 by John Cabot. It contains many historical locations, such as Cabot Tower, receiver of the first wireless trans-Atlantic message in 1901. Steeped in a long, proud history and home to a rich, unique culture, St. John’s residents are known for their hospitality, and their city is a major travel destination in Newfoundland both domestically and for foreign travellers. In recent years, St. John’s has become a popular stop for cruise ships originating from ports in Canada, the United States and Europe. The cruise industry has brought tens of thousands of tourists to the St. John’s area. In the city’s downtown core, George Street, renowned for its nightlife, is home to the most bars and pubs per square foot in North America.

Just outside St. John’s lies Cape Spear, the most eastern point in North America. From this point, London in the UK is closer than Vancouver.

Northwest Territories attractions include:

Nova Scotia is seen as a destination to experience local cuisine, visit historic sites and enjoy the civic and natural environment. The seaside is particularly strong attraction.^[14]

Major sites of interest

Halifax, the provincial capital, has several major attractions, such as the Pier 21 museum, Citadel Hill, and the Public Gardens. The Halifax Metro Centre is home to numerous events both sport-related and otherwise, such as the Nova Scotia International Tattoo. Downtown Halifax is considered the prime tourism district in Halifax, with most historic attractions located here as well as the waterfront harbourwalk, a continuous 3 km (2 mi) stretch of boardwalk home to street vendors, entertainers, the Casino Nova Scotia, and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Downtown Halifax is also the location of several major hotels.

Nunavut is probably the most expensive of all the tourist destinations in Canada. Attractions in Nunavut include:

Ontario is the most populous and second largest province in Canada. Southern Ontario is home to the nation’s capital, Ottawa, and Canada’s largest city, Toronto, which is the provincial capital and one of the most multicultural cities in the world. The forests and numerous lakes of central Ontario and northern Ontario also provide popular hiking and camping destinations.

Prince Edward Island is the birthplace of Lucy Maud Montgomery‘s character, Anne of Green Gables, and a recreation of her literary home, Green Gables Farm, serves as a museum to the character. The island is also famous around the world for its potato farms and rich red sand beaches.

Other tourists attractions in Prince Edward Island include, among others:

Quebec, a majority francophone province, is a major tourist draw. Quebec City is a taste of old France in the new world and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Montreal, the second largest francophone city in the world, has several tourist attractions.

Saskatchewan offers two major cities, Regina and Saskatoon. Regina is home to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Academy at Depot Division where visitors can view the Sergeant Major’s Parade held weekdays and the seasonal Sunset Retreat Ceremonies. Regina is also home to the RCMP Heritage Centre, which opened in May 2007. Saskatoon is home to the largest branch of the Western Development Museum, which houses important artifacts and recreations of the early settlement of the Canadian prairies.

The prairie province also has the most golf courses and water bodies per capita of any other province. Statistically the warmest summers with the most sunlight hours in Canada occur in Saskatoon. Natural attractions include Cypress Hills Provincial Park, the Great Sand Hills, and Scottie the Dinosaur (the largest intact Tyrannosaurus rex found in North America).

Saskatoon also has many famous attractions, such as the Remai Modern art museum on the river bank, and the city is also home to the Western Development Museum.

With its history of the Klondike Gold Rush, First Nations culture and spectacular wilderness, the Yukon Territory has an extensive tourism industry, welcoming over 300,000 visitors a year. Tourist attractions include the gold rush town of Dawson City, Kluane National Park and Reserve and a number of attractions in Whitehorse and other communities. Opportunities for wilderness adventure tourism and ecotourism abound (hiking, canoeing, kayaking, skiing, dog-sledding), but the territory is also served by a well-developed road network, with most places accessible by road.

Watson Lake Sign Post Forest makes its home in Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. It was first settled by a U.S. soldier who repaired road signs and added his home sign of Illinois. Now this is home to over 77,000 different road signs.