The Canadian economy has taken a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic but the tourism industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors due to travel restrictions.
That from Huju Liu, Senior Economist with Stats Canada, who estimates that if travel restrictions are kept up into December Canada could see a reduction to the GDP between $27.9 to $37.1 billion and a loss of 400 to 500 thousand jobs in 2020. He says that accounts for about 1.7% to 1.9% of the 2019 Canadian GDP.
Liu says according to his study the Tourism sector could be hit by a 17.6 billion to 23.3 billion loss, with 280 to 400 thousand jobs lost. He explains this would be a loss of about one-half to two-thirds of the 2019 tourism GDP.
This loss also trickles down to other industries Liu says for example with hotel closures, during the pandemic, repair services, utilities , food and drink among others are all affected. Which adds up to the additional $10 to $14 billion to Canada’s GDP, with 100 to 140 thousand jobs lost.
Liu states there is still a lot of uncertainty with the re-opening of businesses and travel borders but things like CERB and wage subsidies could change some of these numbers for the better.

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