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Like many of you, my mailbox has started to fill with election literature; local candidates have started to knock on doors and this week the NDP, following on from the Liberal Party, released their election platform. The Ontario Provincial election is almost officially upon us and today the Progressive Conservative government released its final budget of this parliament, one that will be delivered if they are successfully re-elected in June. A breakdown of some of the key budget announcements and details from the NDP platform can be found later in the newsletter. 

Next week, TIAO will be launching our own non-partisan election microsite OntarioNeedsTourism.ca, encouraging members of the industry and the public to engage local candidates in your riding on the important issues affecting the tourism industry. Our aim is simple; we want every re-elected or newly elected MPP to understand the challenges the industry faces in its recovery and gather support for TIAO’s recommendations to foster growth and opportunities - specifically, how we can support the return of tourism by working to remove all remaining barriers to travel, support the growth of tourism businesses by working to address regulatory burdens, remove red tape, and cut taxes, ensure the recovery and sustainability of tourism by working to address the industry-wide labour crisis and help rebuild tourism as a key economic driver by working to address the financial challenges of tourism businesses and supporting long-term industry investment. 

OntarioNeedsTourism.ca will be officially launched next week and will include our election toolkit and key messages and images that you can share alongside the hashtag #OntarioNeedsTourism. In an election that will be fought on many important issues, by working together to engage candidates, we can ensure that the tourism industry remains front and centre of any discussions about the future of our economy. 

Moving away from the election for the moment, TIAO was delighted to see the Federal Government announce its intention to restart federal economic immigration programs and extend international students’ expiring work permits while they are waiting for their permanent residence applications to be processed. Whilst we’re still awaiting some details, this is an important step by the Federal Government to recognize the labour crisis that many sectors are currently enduring and can be an important piece of the puzzle in meeting an expected summer of increased consumer demand and our long-term labour challenges. 

Earlier this week a tourism delegation led by TIAO’S Director of Policy and Government Affairs, Dr. Jessica Ng, held a roundtable event with key members of staff from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries on the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT). In a wide-ranging discussion about MAT, several key areas were discussed including challenges on collecting MAT and future funding arrangements. There has never been a more important time for us to be discussing the long-term economic future of the tourism industry, of which MAT will be a key component. For more information on the roundtable and future MAT discussions please contact Jess directly by emailing here.

Finally, please note that the next Building Inclusive Tourism Webinar is on May 11, entitled ‘Job Vacancies? Consider the Disability Talent Pool’. You can register for this complimentary webinar by clicking here. 

Christopher Bloore,
President & CEO

Hello and welcome to the latest edition of TIAO’s weekly newsletter. As we head into the long weekend, we wanted to thank you for your continued support of the work that TIAO does and we hope that you are able to enjoy a weekend with your friends and families.  

This week, TIAO launched its pre-election survey designed to capture your views as the short campaign for the Ontario Provincial Election is set to begin. The information we collect will lay the foundations for our work during the provincial election. At a critical time for the tourism industry, when our recovery is far from secured, we need to ensure that prospective members of the provincial parliament are fully aware of the challenges we face. We need to utilize our relationships with all political parties and the media to make sure the issues that matter to the tourism industry are raised and answered during the election. So please complete the survey by clicking here and please share as widely as possible. 

Also happening this week, the funding portals for Tourism Relief Funding from RTO’s and ITO in partnership with FedDev Ontario opened. Please visit the dedicated RTO TRF site for the fund by clicking here where you can also learn more about the program and find your own dedicated portal for your local RTO to find details on how to apply and important dates associated with your application. If you have questions or would like advice about your application, please don’t hesitate to contact the TIAO team or use the contact details provided by your local RTO. 

On this week's TIAO stakeholder calls we went through the recent federal government budget, picking out some of the key announcements pertaining to the tourism industry and the wider economy. You can download our slides from that call further down in this newsletter. On the call itself, we expressed our disappointment that key recommendations put forward by the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses and TIAC were not taken up by the federal government. The decision not to extend financial support for the tourism industry is unfortunate because as we all know, reopening doesn’t mean recovery, especially when there are significant barriers to travel remaining and depressed consumer confidence. Specifically, TIAO will continue to work with TIAC to push for national solutions to the appalling examples of price gouging in the commercial insurance market and for further debt forgiveness for those who have taken out CEBA, RRRF and HASCAP loans.  

However, there were a series of welcome announcements that TIAO strongly supports and that have been key advocacy asks over the past several years in collaboration with industry partners. One of the key announcements, actually announced before the budget was released, were key changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). These changes will allow businesses in accommodation and food services to fill a larger proportion of essential positions with temporary foreign workers and will open up the opportunity for more tourism and hospitality businesses to fill persistently vacant low-wage positions through the TFWP—key asks that TIAO has been pushing for.  

The federal government also confirmed its intention to develop a new post-pandemic Federal Tourism Growth Strategy focused on the labour crisis and destination development. Other announcements in the budget included financial support for Indigenous tourism, a tax incentive for small businesses, defunding border closure operations, further consultations on reducing credit card process fees and measures to address the housing crisis. TIAO will of course share any opportunities for stakeholders to take part in any of the proposed new consultations and will ensure the voice of the tourism industry in Ontario is heard. Everyone at TIAO would like to thank the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses and TIAC for all their hard work in fighting for our industry.  

As COVID-19 relief winds down, TIAO will continue working to ensure the stability of long-term tourism funds: tools like the Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) will become increasingly important to financing the tourism marketing that is critical to attracting visitors back to local Ontario destinations. In the next weeks, TIAO and our tourism delegation will meet with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to discuss challenges with MAT implementation and solutions to improve the current MAT framework so that it can best support local tourism economies. 

Finally, this week the TIAO DEI working group held its latest webinar as part of the Building Inclusive Tourism: Monthly Webinar Series entitled ‘Best Practices of Integrating DEI Principles at the DMO Level’. Thank you to all of those that attended the session and to our excellent speakers, moderator and curators of the session. Please visit our website here to learn of future sessions and access past sessions. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our latest TIAO newsletter. As ever, if you have any questions or queries, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us.

Christopher Bloore,
President & CEO

Dr. Jessica Ng
Director, Policy & Gov't Affairs