Canadian Tourism Employment Snapshot – March

  • n March 2017, the unemployment rate in the tourism sector was at 6.1%, which is 0.1% higher than the rate reported in March 2016, but lower than the previous month (February 2017) when the unemployment rate stood at 6.5%.
  • At 6.1%, tourism’s unemployment rate was well below Canada’s seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate of 7.2%.
  • The only industry group to have reported lower unemployment rates than it had one year ago, is the recreation and entertainment sector. All other industry groups have reported higher unemployment rates than last year.
  • On a provincial basis, tourism unemployment rates ranged from 4.3% in British Colombia to 17.5% in Prince Edward Island.
  • The seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates for tourism in each province, with the exception of Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, were well below the rates reported for the provincial economy.
  • Tourism employment comprised 11.1% of the total Canadian labour force for the month of March.

Click here to read the full report from Tourism HR Canada.