Financial help for tourism industry coming

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This article was published 13/07/2021 (1734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Eagerly anticipated funding for the revitalization of Canada’s tourism industry will now begin to flow across local agencies from coast to coast, says the federal minister in charge of economic development and western diversification.

Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday the $500-million Tourism Relief Fund will open to applications this week, with at least $50 million put aside for Indigenous businesses and projects.

“We have to remember that tourism was the first to suffer during this crisis and is looking to be the last to get back to normal,” Joly told the Free Press in an interview, after the formal announcement at a Prince Edward County barn in Hillier, Ont. “As vaccination efforts are paying off and declining case rates are finally allowing restrictions to ease, we need to help these extremely fragile businesses.”

The financial support for the battered and bruised sector is part of the Liberal government’s nearly 700-page federal budget, presented at the House of Commons in April, which had set aside $1 billion over three years to bolster tourism beyond the pandemic.

Under half of that, about $400 million, was dedicated to major cultural festivals and smaller community-based events like fall country fairs. The other half was for the Tourism Relief Fund, but further details were not provided at the time.

On Monday, Joly revealed at long last that beleaguered tourism operators’ anxieties should be eased with a mix of non-repayable contributions or no-interest loans to finance capital improvements courtesy of the feds.

However, the minister said she understands another summer of restrictions mean worries only continue to mount for the businesses that generated $104 billion and contributed $45 billion to the gross domestic product before the pandemic.

“We asked Canadians to stay home and they have done so. But now, July is almost over and there’s lots of work to be done for economic recovery,” said Joly. “We have to bring Canada back to being a premier destination.”

Regional development agencies will deliver $485 million directly to businesses and organizations. Among those, Western Economic Diversification will hand out about $160 million to Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The rest, $15 million, will be handed out for human resources, skills development and seasonal or geographic dispersion across the country by federal department Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada.

Joly said an important part of Canada’s Indigenous economic development approach is to support Inuit, Métis and First Nations tourism operators directly.

“We’d heard the call for help from them and that’s exactly what we’re doing here,” she said.

“Of all the tourism businesses in Canada, it was Indigenous tourism operators that were growing the fastest just before the pandemic. This $50 million is, I think, a very good start in the sense that it’s the minimum we will give. And if the ask is higher, we will of course adapt.”

Ottawa hopes this money will help businesses avoid a debt spiral that could end in more companies closing their doors, especially since the sector employed one in 10 Canadians prior to COVID-19. But at the moment, foreign tourists aren’t allowed in Canada just yet.

“We are now one of the most vaccinated countries in the world,” Joly said. “So, now, we’re looking at the future — and we’re positioning ourself before we can finally allow international travellers to our beautiful country.”

 

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur