National tourism indicators, third quarter 2022
Released: 2023-01-06
$19.5 billion
Third quarter 2022
3.2% 
(quarterly change)
$15.2 billion
Third quarter 2022
1.0%
(quarterly change)
$4.3 billion
Third quarter 2022
11.6%
(quarterly change)
1.6%
Third quarter 2022
643,000
Third quarter 2022
3.7%
(quarterly change)
Tourism spending in Canada grew 3.2% in the third quarter, a sixth consecutive quarterly increase. Tourism gross domestic product (GDP) (+4.2%) and jobs attributable to tourism (+3.7%) also rose in the third quarter.
Despite the tourism sector's continued recovery in the third quarter, tourism spending remains below (by 18.4%) the fourth quarter of 2019 level, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Spending by international visitors was 32.2% below pre-pandemic levels, a slower recovery than that of tourism spending in Canada by Canadians, at 13.5% below pre-pandemic levels.
Passenger air transport (+5.8%) contributed the most to the growth in tourism spending in the third quarter, followed by accommodation (+2.9%) and food and beverage (+2.4%) services.
Chart 1
Tourism spending increases
Tourism GDP grew 4.2% in the third quarter, following a 20.9% increase in the second quarter. Transportation services (+9.3%) drove half of the growth. With economy-wide GDP up 0.7% in the third quarter, tourism's share of GDP edged up to 1.6%. Overall, tourism GDP reached 80.7% of its pre-pandemic level.
Employment attributable to tourism rose 3.7% in the third quarter, following an 11.3% increase in the second quarter. The largest contributors to growth in the third quarter were employment in accommodation (+5.2%), food and beverage (+2.5%) and air transportation (+11.8%) services. While tourism-related employment rose, overall employment in Canada declined 0.3% in the third quarter. Therefore, tourism's share of employment slightly increased to 3.2% in the third quarter from 3.1% in the second quarter.
Chart 2
Tourism gross domestic product and jobs attributable to tourism rise
Spending by international visitors increases
Tourism spending by international visitors was up 11.6% in the third quarter, following a 72.6% increase in the second quarter. Accommodation services (+11.7%) were the main contributor to the third quarter's increase. Tourism spending by international visitors accounted for 21.9% of total tourism spending in Canada in the third quarter, up from 20.3% in the second quarter.
Chart 3
Share of tourism spending by international visitors increases
Tourism spending in Canada by Canadians increases
Tourism spending in Canada by Canadians increased 1.0% in the third quarter. Domestic spending on passenger air transport (+5.6%) largely contributed to this growth and more than offset the declines in accommodation services (-1.5%) and non-tourism products (-1.4%) spending.
Sustainable development goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
The national tourism indicators are an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global goals for sustainable development. This release will be used in helping to measure the following goal:
Note to readers
Growth rates for tourism spending and gross domestic product (GDP) are expressed in real terms (that is, adjusted for price changes), using reference year 2012, as well as adjusted for seasonal variations, unless otherwise indicated.
Employment data are also seasonally adjusted.
Tourism's share of economy-wide GDP is calculated from seasonally adjusted nominal values.
Tourism's share of economy-wide employment is calculated using seasonally adjusted values.
For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Associated percentage changes are presented at quarterly rates unless otherwise noted.
Economy-wide GDP is obtained from table 36-10-0104-01. Economy-wide employment is obtained from table 36-10-0207-01.
Non-tourism industries, also referred to as other industries, are industries that would continue to exist in the absence of tourism. For example, the crop production and petroleum refineries industries produce products purchased by tourists. However, neither would cease to exist in the absence of tourism. Tourism GDP takes into account the production of these products purchased by tourists.
Non-tourism products, also referred to as other products, are products for which a significant part of its total demand in Canada does not come from visitors, such as groceries, clothing and alcohol bought in stores.
With the third quarter of 2022 release of the national tourism indicators, all data from the first and second quarters of 2022 have been revised.
Revisions over the 2020 to 2022 period are expected to be higher than normal due to the volatile economic situation, particularly for the tourism sector.
The national tourism indicators are funded by Destination Canada.
Next release
Data on the national tourism indicators for the fourth quarter of 2022 will be released on March 30, 2023.
Products
The data visualization product "Provincial and Territorial Tourism Satellite Account," which is part of Statistics Canada – Data Visualization Products (71-607-X), is available.
The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.
The Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (13-605-X) is available.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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