Tourism Investment Module, 2023
Released: 2025-02-13
In 2023, tourism industries invested $28.8 billion in non-residential capital assets, accounting for 6.6% of all non-residential capital investment in Canada.
Non-residential assets include four broad categories: non-residential buildings, non-residential engineering structures, machinery and equipment, and intellectual property products.
This release isolates the investment in non-residential capital assets undertaken by tourism industries at a detailed industry level. The specific industries included are outlined in the Note to readers. Estimates represent investments by tourism industries, whether they cater directly to tourists or not. Investment by these industries in tourism-specific fixed assets or tourism-related infrastructure, as well as investment that is directly attributable to tourism demand, would likely be significantly lower. This is because the reliance of certain tourism industries on tourism economic activity is relatively small.
The share of total non-residential investment by tourism industries edged up 0.1%, from 6.5% in 2022 to 6.6% in 2023. The slight gain was largely attributable to ramped-up investment by the passenger car rental industry (+$1.4 billion).
Chart 1
Tourism industries' share of non-residential investment, 2014 to 2023
In 2023, urban transit systems ($9.6 billion) accounted for over one-third of total tourism investment. This share climbs to over 50% if the passenger car rental ($3.4 billion) and scheduled air transportation ($2.4 billion) industries are included.
In real terms, capital investment by tourism industries grew 4.1% in 2023, after rising 2.8% in 2022. The gain in 2023 was the third consecutive annual increase. Investment by the passenger car rental industry (+59.7%) in 2023 was the largest contributor to the overall growth that year.
Chart 2
Investment by tourism industries, 2014 to 2023
Half of capital investment by tourism industries comes from the private sector
Half of capital investment by tourism industries in 2023 originated in the private sector. The private sector's share of investment by tourism industries increased for the second consecutive year, after previously declining in each year since 2016.
The private sector's share of capital investment by tourism industries in 2023 was highest in Nunavut (91.2%), Yukon (89.0%) and the Northwest Territories (81.5%). In each of the territories, investment by the scheduled air transportation industry was the leading contributor as regional airlines increased aircraft acquisitions. The lowest share of private sector contributions was in Quebec (35.7%).
Capital investment by public sector tourism industries in 2023 was highest at the level of provincial, territorial and Indigenous general governments ($9.0 billion), followed by local governments ($4.4 billion) and the federal government ($1.0 billion). Public sector industries also include government business enterprises.
The share of capital investment by tourism industries attributable to provincial, territorial and Indigenous general governments was highest in Ontario (37.7%) and Quebec (37.0%) in 2023.
Chart 3
Investment by tourism industries, by sector, 2023
Travel and tourism: trade balance with the United States
US travellers took 21.2 million trips to Canada in 2023, of which 12.8 million were overnight trips. Canadian travellers took 37.4 million trips to the United States, including 20.5 million overnight trips.
The Canadian travel deficit with the United States was $15.8 billion in 2023, only surpassed by the $15.9 billion deficit observed in 2014. Canada's last travel surplus with the United States occurred in 1986.
While the concepts of international travel and international tourism differ slightly, international travel spending serves as a reliable proxy for tourism trade activity. Travel spending estimates include some spending for education- and medical-related travel, as well as spending by crew members, which are not considered as tourism spending. Conversely, it excludes international passenger fares, which are part of tourism spending.
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Note to readers
All estimates in this release are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise stated. Initial estimates from 1981 up to 2022 have been revised as a result of updates to source data and methodology.
International guidance on measuring tourism capital investment suggests different approaches, including capturing investment in tourism-specific fixed assets, investment by tourism industries in non-tourism-specific fixed assets and investment in tourism-related infrastructure. Additionally, tourism capital investment can be examined from the perspective of tourism demand, as industries where tourism activity is significant likely allocate greater capital investment to support this demand. The approach taken in this release is to measure tourism capital investment from the perspective of tourism industries, regardless of whether the investment specifically caters to tourists or not. Considerable challenges exist in separating tourism-specific investment from overall capital investment.
Tourism industries are a subset of all industries in Canada and include those related to transportation, accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, and travel services that are likely to cater directly to tourists.
Tourism industries are composed of the following six-digit North American Industry Classification System 2022 codes:
481110, 481214, 481215, 482114, 483115, 483116, 483213, 483214, 485110, 485210, 485310, 485320, 485410,
485510, 485990, 487110, 487210, 487990, 512130, 532111, 532120, 561510, 561520, 561590, 711111, 711112,
711120, 711130, 711190, 711213, 711214, 711215, 711217, 711311, 711319, 711321, 711322, 711329, 711511,
711512, 711513, 712111, 712115, 712119, 712120, 712130, 712190, 713110, 713120, 713210, 713291, 713299,
713910, 713920, 713930, 713950, 713991, 713992, 713999, 721111, 721112, 721113, 721114, 721120, 721191,
721192, 721198, 721211, 721212, 721213, 722410, 722511 and 722512.
Data are available upon request.
Products
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
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