Fast Facts

Total Tourism Sector Employment (2006)

There are 1.66 million people working in the total tourism sector. This is an increase of 9,600 since the 2005 Labour Force Survey.
Employment in the sector is projected to increase at an annual aggregated compound growth rate of 1.8% compared to 1.1% in the overall economy.
The tourism sector labour force is 52% women and 48% men. This is compared to the overall Canadian labour force which is 47% women and 53% men.
The tourism sector is aging at a similar pace to the Canadian labour force.
Although in the Canadian labour force there has been a decrease of 2 percentage points since the 1996 Census of the people whose English or French is their mother tongue, tourism only saw 1 percent decrease.
Overall, the Canadian labour force and the tourism sector have a similar proportion of people born inside Canada and those born outside Canada.
There has not been a lot of change in the level of schooling. 51% of the total tourism labour force has at least some post-secondary education compared to 61% of the Canadian labour force.
There has not been a lot of change in recent school attendance. It is interesting to note that 20% of the total tourism labour force attends school full-time, compared to 9% of the Canadian labour force.
The percentage of union member employees in the tourism sector is 11.5%, compared to 25% in the Canadian labour force.

Human Resource Module of the Tourism Satellite Account (2009)

Tourism industries accounted for 1.6 million jobs in 2009, about 10% of the jobs in the economy that year.
Among the five tourism industry groups (transportation, accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, and travel services), food and beverage services was the largest employer, accounting for over half of all jobs in tourism.
About 521,000 jobs in the sector could be directly attributed to tourism demand. The remaining 1.08 million jobs were attributed to non-tourism demand, such as local spending on taxis, in restaurants, hotels and casinos.
In 2009, jobs in tourism industries declined 0.6%, a smaller decline than for all industries in Canada (-1.7%). Ten thousand jobs were lost in tourism industries in 2009: full-time jobs (-12,000) decreased but some part-time jobs (+2,000) were created.
Workers in tourism industries put in an average 29.0 hours per week in 2009, less than the Canadian average of 32.7 hours, reflecting the high proportion of part-time jobs in tourism. Hourly compensation in tourism in 2009 averaged $19.59 per hour, up 3.3% from 2008.
Five occupation groups dominated the tourism sector, accounting for 48.2% of all employee jobs: food-counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related occupations with 245,000 jobs; food and beverage servers with 191,000 jobs; cooks with 145,000 jobs; restaurant and food service managers with 82,000 jobs; and cashiers with 59,000 jobs.
Youth aged 15 to 24 held nearly 40% of all employee jobs in the tourism industries in 2009, twice their share in the economy overall, while women held 55%.
Immigrants were a significant source of labour for the sector, accounting for 22% of tourism employee jobs in 2009.

Tourism Labour Supply and Demand (2010)

The tourism sector will return to labour shortages in 2012, equivalent to 9,498 full-year jobs.
By 2025, the tourism sector will see a labour shortage equivalent to almost 219,000 full-year jobs.
The largest increase in potential labour demand will occur in the food and beverage services industry, which could support nearly 1.16 million jobs by 2025.
By 2025, the recreation and entertainment industry will face a shortfall of 32,000 full-year jobs.
Increasing the rate of employment of entry-level occupations by just 1% per year from 2011 to 2020 could increase the supply of labour by 105,999 full-year jobs.

Tourism Sector Compensation (2008)

For the common occupations among the various industry groups, accommodation and recreation and entertainment continue to be the two higher paying industry groups. The 2006 study showed the recreation and entertainment industry leading slightly in pay over the accommodation industry. The food and beverage services industry typically pays the lowest in both studies. Pay in the travel services industry is within the ranges of the other industries.
When comparing the compensation levels of union and non-union positions, the unionized employees are consistently paid higher. This is similar to the 2006 findings.
When comparing compensation levels with regard to employment status, the data show that full-time employees are in general paid higher than part-time staff. Seasonal positions do not show a prevalent pay pattern. This is the same as observed in the 2006 study.
The general manager position has a large variance in compensation mainly due to the size of the organization where the incumbent is employed. The base salary varies from $35,820 (10th percentile) to $116,000 (90th percentile). The total cash varies from $36,000 (10th percentile) to $136,274 (90th percentile). It should be noted that small business owners/operators in the role of the general manager who report receiving compensation are also included.
In addition to the general manager, the data indicate that the director of sales and marketing, head professional (golf), superintendent maintenance/groundskeeper, and executive chef make up the top five highest paid jobs in the study.
With respect to the frontline occupations, the data reveal that the sales representative is the highest paid job, followed by heavy equipment operator and outdoor adventure guide.
When assessing salaried compensation differences among provinces, the data show that most occupations in Alberta are the highest paid, followed by those in Ontario and British Columbia. The Atlantic provinces show the lowest pay trend in the study.
The majority (62%) of respondents have a gratuity splitting policy in place. Consistent with the 2006 study, it is more prevalent in the food and beverage services industry (69% with policy) and the accommodation industry (63% with policy). It is least common in the travel services industry (27% with policy).
Consistent with the 2006 study, “up to 49%” of base salary is the most common gratuity level reported across the occupations studied. Servers and bartenders are the positions reported most likely to have gratuities more than 200% of base salary.
The average bonus payouts are 16.1% of base salary for the executive/owner level and 6.4% for the supervisory/management staff.
Consistent with the 2006 results, flex time (52%) and shift work (48%) are among the most common work arrangements reported.

Demand for Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) in the Tourism Sector (2007)

In 2007, tourism employers received permission from Service Canada to fill approximately 18,500 temporary foreign worker positions.
Food and beverage services received over 60% of all approved TFW positions for tourism in 2007.
In 2007, Service Canada issued the majority of approved TFW positions in tourism to employers in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.
Tourism employers in regions outside of Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario received fewer than 10% of all TFW positions approved for the sector in 2007.
In 2007, Service Canada issued the largest share of approved TFW positions requiring on-the-job training to tourism operators in need of food counter attendants and kitchen helpers.
In 2007, Service Canada issued the majority of approved TFW positions for management occupations to tourism employers in need of restaurant and food service managers.

*Source: Demand for Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) in the Tourism Sector