Below is a snapshot of tourism data, from Tourism HR Canada.

  • Overall, tourism Employment grew (5.9%) over last month and the unemployment rate improved for all sectors.
  • There was significant improvement in the unemployment rate across all industries when compared to the same month in 2019, 2020 and 2021. However, these data are artificially inflated by the decline in the overall size of the labour force from previous years.
  • On a month over month basis, the size of the tourism labour force between April and May 2022 grew by 4.6% or by 88,400 workers. Two sectors — Transportation and Travel Services — however saw a decreased labour force this month: -1.6% (-5,600 workers) and -1.4% (-500 workers), respectively.
  • A key observation this month is that positive growth in the May 2022 Unemployment Rate is deceptive. While the labour force continues to grow from its unprecedent lows during the COVID-19 pandemic, the total tourism labour force remains 203,000 workers short (or -9.2%) of the level it had in May 2019.
  • This points to a significant labour shortage in the industry at a time when many of its sectors are gearing up for a peak economic season.
  • As the industry looks toward recovery in the coming months, the size of the labour force continues to be much smaller than the demand from employers.

More LM data, trends and other good info can be found here.

View PDF Document in Full 2022 06 10 Latest Employment Numbers – May 2022 (003)