CTHRC News > 2007 > Statistics Canada Releases Update of Tourism Human Resource Module

Statistics Canada Releases Update of Tourism Human Resource Module

March 29 2007

OTTAWA , ONTARIO – March 29, 2007 - This past week, the Human Resource Module of the Tourism Satellite Account, Update to 2005 was released by Statistics Canada. In partnership with the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC), Statistics Canada is leading the world in developing a Human Resource Module for a Tourism Satellite Account.

“The Human Resource Module (HRM) provides the industry with the most comprehensive snapshot of tourism’s human resource dimension at a national level” states Greg Hermus, Associate Director, The Conference Board of Canada. “The statistics provided by the HRM represent key benchmarks for our own tourism employment projections which identify areas where supply constraints are likely to impede growth.”

The report presents detailed employment data by tourism industry group or occupation for the period from 1997 to 2005. This marks a significant change in the time lag of previous years’ reports. In 2006, the report included data up to 2002 and this year’s report references 2005 data. In narrowing the gap for data releases by two full years, the employers, trainers and tourism analysts using this document have more relevant, up-to-date information to apply to projects and planning strategies.

As the composition of the Canadian labour force evolves through retirements, declining birth rates and immigration, tourism must compete with other sectors of the economy to meet employment needs. The Human Resource Module of the Tourism Satellite Account, Update to 2005 is a useful resource when planning a thoughtful, proactive approach to labour market issues.

The HRM breakdown of employment data includes information on the number of employee jobs, hours worked, productivity and employment earnings based on full-time or part-time employment status, by occupation. The report indicates that 2.7 billion hours were worked in tourism industries in 2005, accounting for 9.6% of the 28.6 billion hours worked in the Canadian economy overall.

Businesses in the tourism sector are making gains attracting youth and older workers. Both the 15-24 age group and the 45+ group show an increase of 1.5% between 1997 and 2005. An increase in the proportion of part-time jobs since 1997 may be linked to the same evolution of the labour market.

The proportion of women working in tourism has increased by 12,900 since 2002. This increase was mostly in full-time employment, and nearly half of the job gains in tourism from 2002 to 2005 can be attributed to this demographic.

The full report is now available as a free download as a part of the Income and Expenditure Accounts Technical Series (13-604-MIE2007055) from the Publications module of the Statistics Canada website http://www.statcan.ca/english/research/13-604-MIE/13-604-MIE2007055.htm.