National tourism indicators, fourth quarter 2024
Released: 2025-03-27
$26.4 billion
Fourth quarter 2024
1.5% 
(quarterly change)
$20.0 billion
Fourth quarter 2024
1.3%
(quarterly change)
$6.4 billion
Fourth quarter 2024
2.2%
(quarterly change)
1.78%
Fourth quarter 2024
708,900
Fourth quarter 2024
0.8%
(quarterly change)
Tourism spending in Canada increased 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, following a 0.4% decline in the third quarter. Annually, tourism spending rose 3.6% in 2024, following a 15.3% increase in 2023. Tourism gross domestic product (GDP) rose 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and was up 3.8% annually. Tourism jobs increased 0.8% in the fourth quarter and rose 1.8% annually in 2024.
Chart 1
Tourism spending increases
Passenger air transport (+2.8%) and accommodation services (+2.6%) were the main contributors to growth in tourism spending in the fourth quarter. Annually, passenger air transport spending (+7.4%) contributed the most to overall growth in 2024.
Tourism GDP rose 1.6% in the fourth quarter, following a 0.7% decrease in the third quarter. Accommodation services (+2.8%) and transportation (+1.6%) were the main contributors to overall growth. Economy-wide real GDP by industry rose 0.4% in the fourth quarter, and tourism's share of GDP increased to 1.78% on a nominal basis. Annually, tourism GDP rose 3.8% in 2024, compared with the economy-wide real GDP by industry growth of 1.6%.
Chart 2
Tourism and major industrial sectors, gross domestic product, fourth quarter of 2024
The number of tourism jobs increased 0.8% in the fourth quarter, following flat growth in the third quarter. Tourism job growth in accommodation (+1.5%) and food and beverage (+0.9%) services was partially offset by a decline in travel services (-1.5%) in the fourth quarter. The total number of jobs in Canada rose 0.5% in the fourth quarter, while tourism's share of jobs rose to 3.35%.
Chart 3
Tourism gross domestic product and jobs attributable to tourism increase
Tourism spending by international visitors increases
Tourism spending by international visitors in Canada rose 2.2% in the fourth quarter, following a decline of 2.4% in the third quarter. Accommodation (+3.2%) and food and beverage (+3.0%) services were the main contributors to growth in the fourth quarter. Annually, tourism spending by international visitors increased 8.0% in 2024, reaching 92.3% of the level observed in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chart 4
Share of tourism spending in Canada by international visitors increases
Tourism spending in Canada by Canadians increases
Tourism spending in Canada by Canadians was up 1.3% in the fourth quarter, after a 0.2% increase in the third quarter. Domestic tourism spending on passenger air transportation (+3.3%), accommodation (+2.3%) and recreation and entertainment (+2.4%) were the main contributors to the rise in the fourth quarter. Notable events during the quarter included the Taylor Swift Eras tour performances in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as the world junior hockey championship hosted in Ottawa.
Looking ahead
Canadian travellers returning from the United States by automobile declined year-over-year in both January and February 2025 based on leading indicators. Total trips to Canada (both Canadian-resident return trips and non-resident trips) by air in February also posted a decline.
Focus on Canada and the United States
Travel and tourism: trade balance with the United States
US travellers took 23.5 million trips to Canada in 2024, of which 14.1 million were overnight trips. Canadian travellers took 39.0 million trips to the United States, including 20.2 million overnight trips.
The Canadian travel deficit with the United States was $14.2 billion in 2024. 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.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
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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
With the fourth quarter 2024 release of the national tourism indicators, all data from the first quarter of 2021 have been revised to incorporate updated indicators from the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts and from the integration of the 2021 Supply and Use Tables.
Growth rates for tourism spending and gross domestic product (GDP) are expressed in real terms (that is, adjusted for price changes), in 2017 constant dollars, as well as adjusted for seasonal variations, unless otherwise indicated.
Tourism jobs 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 jobs is calculated using seasonally adjusted values.
Economy-wide real GDP by industry is obtained from Table 36-10-0449-01 using constant dollars. Economy-wide total number of jobs is obtained from Table 36-10-0207-01.
For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Associated percentage changes are presented at quarterly rates unless otherwise noted.
Non-tourism industries, also referred to as other industries, are industries that would continue to exist in the absence of tourism. For example, retail trade industries, which benefit from tourism activity, would not 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.
The national tourism indicators are funded by Destination Canada.
Next release
Data on the national tourism indicators for the first quarter of 2025 will be released on June 26.
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
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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