Government of Canada Releases Budget 2022

On April 7, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, released Budget 2022: A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable.

Since the depths of the pandemic recession, the government’s focus on jobs—on keeping Canadians employed and on keeping their employers afloat—has ensured Canada’s economy has made a rapid and strong recovery. Canada has seen the best jobs recovery in the G7, having recovered 112 per cent of the jobs lost, and with an unemployment rate that sits at just 5.5 per cent—close to the 5.4 per cent low in 2019 that was Canada’s best in five decades.

In Budget 2022, the government makes targeted and responsible investments to create jobs and prosperity today, and build a stronger economic future for all Canadians. Budget 2022 included several pieces that will benefit Canada’s tourism industry directly, including:

New Tourism Policy to be developed 

• The Minister of Tourism will work with the tourism industry, provincial and territorial counterparts, and Indigenous tourism operators to develop a new post-pandemic Federal Tourism Growth Strategy, which will plot a course for growth, investment, and stability.

Indigenous Tourism 

• Budget 2022 proposes to provide $20 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, in support of a new Indigenous Tourism Fund to help the Indigenous tourism industry recover from the pandemic and position itself for long-term, sustainable growth.
• Budget 2022 also proposes to provide $4.8 million over two years, starting in 2022-23, to the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada to support its operations.

Trans-Canada Trails 

• The Trans Canada Trail is a national initiative that began in 1992 with the goal of developing a network of recreational trails that would stretch across Canada. Budget 2022 proposes to provide $55 million over five years, starting in 2022-23, to the Parks Canada Agency for the Trans Canada Trail.

For more information, read the full release and budget available here: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2022/04/government-of-canada-releases-budget-2022.html