Evidence of meeting #7 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was federal.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
November 19th, 2013 / 11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
Thank you, Chair.
Thanks to our witnesses for being here today.
My first question is for David Goldstein of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. David, you mentioned in your opening remarks that we've lost many hotel nights from the U.S. market. Can you tell me if they are going elsewhere or are staying at home?
11:30 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
It's a little of both. The outbound market from the U.S. is going up dramatically. Last year outbound from the U.S. was up 6%. Our inbound from the U.S. was only up 2.5%. So we're not even capturing half of the outbound market that's happening in the U.S.
I think a lot of people blamed passports and other issues. These Americans have passports and they're travelling the world. We haven't had a coordinated brand like Canada brand forcefully in the U.S. market since the Olympics.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
Can you tell us where they are going? Who is our competition when it comes to tourist dollars?
11:30 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
They're all over the world, but predominantly in Europe. There are destinations like Turkey that have become very popular, as well as South America, China, and Australia. There is no magic quotient to this; it is a function of marketing, access, and product. These are all jurisdictions that have upped their marketing significantly in the U.S. to U.S. leisure travellers.
I would note that even the Cameron government, which went through a fairly significant austerity piece itself, reinvested in tourism. When we're looking at making a tourism or marketing investment in Australia, which is spending 3:1 what we're spending in Canada, it's very difficult for us to compete with that customer.
11:30 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
That was my next question. What are our competitors for the tourist dollars doing that we're not doing? Some of those areas that you mentioned are obviously low-cost places to go to as well. So that's something we can't compete with. But we can compete with countries like Australia. What recommendation do you have for us? What are their best practices that we can also use here in Canada?
11:30 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
We're focused here today on marketing, but as I said earlier, there are air access and aviation cost issues. We're having discussions with Transport Canada. The whole visa implementation process is a discussion that we're having, and I'm in front of the immigration committee next week.
There are a bunch of moving parts to the answer. The good part about the U.S. market is that they don't require visas to get here. We have ample air access. They're right on our doorstep so that does give us a competitive advantage if we're about to reintroduce the Canada brand into the marketplace.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
So the U.S. is the low-hanging fruit in the tourist market for us?
11:35 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
I prefer to use the anchor tenant analogy if I could. We are each other's biggest customers. Outbound from Canada to the U.S. is up significantly.
I know we are rushed for time today, but I'd be happy to file some numbers with the committee just to show you the impact on that and how it's creating a $17 billion or $18 billion travel deficit, which is the difference between what Canadians spend abroad and what we take in from international visitation.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
Thank you very much.
My next questions are for Gary Simonsen from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
Gary, in your proposal you've recommended that we expand the Home Buyers' Plan to include people who are in certain circumstances that were unforeseen, for example, job loss, death of a spouse, the accommodation of a family member, etc. Are you suggesting that people who have already taken advantage of the Home Buyers' Plan should get a second kick at it? Can you explain how that would work?
11:35 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Real Estate Association
That's correct. In those certain circumstances they would have an opportunity to utilize the program.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
Again, it's for a second time and assuming they've already paid back the initial amount?
Perhaps you could explain.
11:35 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Real Estate Association
If I could, I'd like to call upon our chief economist and ask him to respond to the specific details, if that's okay.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
11:35 a.m.
Gregory Klump Chief Economist, Canadian Real Estate Association
In direct answer to your question, yes, it will be accessed a second time to defray the costs of moving to get a new job and the increased cost of housing.
In terms of it being fully paid back, I'm not sure how to answer that.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
They're allowed to take out a certain amount now, right? It’s $25,000.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
They're supposed to pay that back over a certain period of time, as well.
11:35 a.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Real Estate Association
It’s over 15 years.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
Andrew Saxton Conservative North Vancouver, BC
The amount stays at $25,000. It's just that they have a second kick at using it.
11:35 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you, Mr. Saxton.
Sorry, we'll return to this at another time.
Mr. Hsu, it’s your round.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal
Ted Hsu Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Thank you very much.
U.S. tourists are very important for my riding of Kingston and the Islands.
I have a couple of questions. One is very particular, because I have heard from one person who had a DUI conviction a long time ago. I don't know the exact story with regards to what is required to cross the border, but that seems to be an issue.
Does the federal government need to do something to take care of cases like this, where this person is not a danger to Canada? He wants to come here.
11:35 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
Thank you for the question.
At the last count by Statistics Canada, more than 6,900 jobs in your riding rely on the travel and tourism industry. And being a border community, obviously the U.S. presence is important.
We had been making progress—actually, Minister Kenney, when he was the immigration minister, brought in an exemption called the reasonable accessibility policy. People who had old or minor criminal offences were given an exemption to come in. We're still working through the administration of that, as it's still a bit awkward. But we continue to work with CIC and CBSA to find out the best path for that. Still, at this point, CBSA officials at the border have, in our view, far too much discretion over this. And I think through the policy process, we'll be able to deal with this issue.
11:35 a.m.
Liberal