MP Mélanie Joly commits to creating more jobs in Canada’s tourism sector

To mark Small Business Week, Canada’s Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, Mélanie Joly, has released a statement announcing a plan to increase employment in Canada’s tourism sector.  

"Tourism is a major contributor to the Canadian economy, supporting over 1.8 million jobs in Canada and accounting for over 2%of our GDP. This fast-growing sector provides economic benefits for small businesses in communities from coast to coast to coast,” Minister Joly said in a statement.

"The Government of Canada believes that supporting small businesses is crucial for the Canadian economy. Over the next few months, as Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, I will work with my colleague the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business and Export Promotion, and all our partners to develop a tourism strategy that will help create new opportunities and good quality middle-class jobs." 

The Canadian tourism sector includes more than 206,000 businesses and 99 per cent of them are small and medium-sized, the Minister stated. “They are an important source of jobs for the middle class, a driver of entrepreneurship and the largest employer of youth.”