Blogs

This week, I joined my colleague Carol Greenwood in Chicago at the Great Lakes Economic Forum held by the Council of the Great Lakes Region. It was an opportunity to further entrench our relationships with our neighbours and share ideas about economic development and sustainability. We heard from Chicago Mayor, Lori Lightfoot, about the importance of tourism to the region and from business leaders about their perspectives on how to respond to our labour crisis and where the opportunities for growth through collaboration were emerging. The Great Lakes region is an economic powerhouse, contributing towards $6 trillion in GDP and supporting fifty million jobs in Canada and the United States. TIAO will continue to work with CGLR to ensure that the tourism industry in Ontario can benefit from shared economic development.  

However, whilst we were discussing further forms of collaboration and sharing best practice, devastating news was simultaneously released that the federal government intends to extend current border restrictions to September 30. Despite our G7 counterparts lifting their final health restrictions and obstacles to travel, the Canadian federal government has decided to go in a direction that will severely restrict our industry's ability to maximize the summer season and ultimately recover. 

Only last week TIAO joined our colleagues from NOTO and Destination Northern Ontario to highlight the critical situation in Northern Ontario and our border towns as we called on the government to axe remaining obstacles to travel. These obstacles have led to over a $100 million in cancellations in Northern Ontario alone and despite this month’s increase in U.S. residents taking trips into Canada through land ports, the number of trips remains at half (50.8%) of the U.S. residents who arrived by automobile during the same month in 2019. We just can’t go on like this. However, the fight continues and next week TIAO is holding a meeting with Conservative Federal Tourism Critic, Michelle Ferreri MP, to discuss the situation in Northern Ontario and call for greater scrutiny on border decision making. 

Last Friday we welcomed a new Minister to the newly renamed Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport in Minister Neil Lumsden. Since then, Sheref Sabawy was reappointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and Laura Smith MPP has also been appointed as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister. Finally, we also have a new Deputy Minister in place as Nina Chiarelli takes over from Sarah Harrison. TIAO welcomes MPP Smith and Deputy Minister Chiarelli to their new roles and looks forward to working together for the benefit of the tourism industry. 

Tomorrow is Canada Day and the TIAO office will be closed and reopening on Monday. However you spend the long weekend, I hope you are able to enjoy it with loved ones. 

Chris Bloore
President & CEO              

Across the globe, international governments are lifting restrictions on unvaccinated travellers and removing final obstacles to travel.  

Yet in Canada, despite recent announcements on temporary changes to border procedures at our airports, there is no plan in place to allow unvaccinated travellers to visit Canada.  

In addition, the ArriveCAN application, originally implemented as part of an emergency order under the Quarantine Act for public health, continues to prove a barrier to travel.  

In a recent House of Commons Committee meeting, MPs heard of the damaging impact that COVID-19 has had on our border towns and tourism industry from TIAC President and CEO Beth Potter, but also, Mark Weber, national president of the Customs and Immigration Union, who said the app has CBSA officers acting as "IT consultants" for travellers and is “an incredible drain on resources. It's a drain on time.” 

But while European and other international governments are dropping mandates, remaining restrictions in Canada are severely restricting the industry's ability to recover. Despite this month’s increase in U.S. residents taking trips into Canada through land ports, the number of trips remains at half (50.8%) of the U.S. residents who arrived by automobile during the same month in 2019. This is simply untenable for the resource-based tourism industry in Northern Ontario, our border towns and is having a major impact on the number of tourists throughout Ontario.  

At the same time when inflation and gas prices are soaring, businesses across Ontario are facing a perfect storm of conditions that could see some businesses decide to close for the season. A recent report by Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario (NOTO) demonstrated that already this season, over $100 million has been lost in cancellations as American tourists cancel their plans to visit Ontario.  

As a member of the Northern Ontario Border Working Group, TIAO joined NOTO, Destination Northern Ontario and frontline operators joined for a press conference to call on the government to end the following remaining border requirements: 1. Random testing at land border crossings. 2. Vaccination of international tourists. 3. Use of ArriveCAN. 

The economic legacies of the pandemic, most notably debt, will continue to act as a millstone around the recovery of the tourism industry and TIAO will continue to work with TIAC to push for the writing off of debt incurred during the pandemic. But, the continued inability of our industry to compete on a level playing field with our international competitors continues to make it impossible for our industry to recover. It’s time for Canada to join other leading countries the G7 in adapting our response to the pandemic and remove vaccine mandates, random testing and the need to use ArriveCAN. 

You can watch the entire press conference, including remarks from NOTO’s Executive Director Laurie Marcil, David MacLachlan, Executive Director of Destination Northern Ontario, frontline operators and myself by clicking here or watch CTV’s coverage here.  

Chris Bloore
President & CEO              

This week, we saw an important step taken towards normalizing travel:

Earlier this week, the federal government announced it will drop the vaccine mandate for domestic and outbound travel, federally regulated transportation sectors, and federal government employees. As of June 20, vaccination will no longer be required to board a plane or train in Canada and employers in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine sectors will no longer be required to have mandatory vaccination policies in place for employees.  

As the pandemic has evolved and new tools have emerged to control the impact of COVID-19, TIAO has been advocating for government to remove barriers to travel. As such, we welcome this move and the opportunities it will provide the tourism industry and broader visitor economy: it will help increase provincial and inter-provincial travel, help address staffing challenges in federally regulated transportation sectors, and help streamline processes at our airports – resulting in a better customer experience.  

But while we are encouraged by the announcement, TIAO is still concerned about the unanswered questions of when unvaccinated travellers will be able to visit Canada and, crucially, when ArriveCAN will be eliminated or processes simplified and made more accessible for travellers. These are concerns we have been raising on TV and radio appearances this week, as we have been speaking to what the changes will mean for the tourism industry.

With cross-border land travel between the United States and Canada still at only 50.8% of normal travel volumes, border towns are bearing the brunt of the vaccine mandate for foreign nationals. Reliant on US clientele for upwards of 90% of their business, northern Ontario tourism operators are again seeing cancellations from US visitors due to the vaccine mandate - but also ArriveCAN requirements.  

The mandatory use of ArriveCAN is creating challenges for inbound foreign nationals, as well as Canadians returning from abroad. With ArriveCAN only allowing submissions up to 72 hours in advance of arriving in Canada, travellers on longer trips and without a smartphone are left with few options if they can't locate a business centre. As a result, seniors in particular have been impacted, with many deterred from travelling altogether. In other cases, it has meant added costs for businesses, with some tour operators resorting to purchasing printers to bring onboard the tour bus in order to print ArriveCAN receipts.   

And so, while this week’s announcement was an important step for the tourism industry, there is still more that needs to be done. We need to remove the vaccine mandate for all travellers in all directions; and if ArriveCAN isn’t to be eliminated entirely, we need to simplify the processes and remove the 72-hour window to submit the required information, making use of ArriveCAN easier and more accessible for more travellers. TIAO will continue working with federal counterparts to remove these remaining obstacles to travel – only then will the tourism industry and wider visitor economy truly be able to recover.  

Thank you for your continued support. And of course, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to send us an email at cbloore@tiaontario.ca and jng@tiaontario.ca.

Chris Bloore
President & CEO               

Jessica Ng
Director, Policy & Government Affairs