Mr. Chair, members of the Standing Committee on Finance, good afternoon.
My name is Yves Juneau, and I am accompanied by Jean-Michel Ryan. We thank you for having us here today. We understand that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss with you assistance measures put in place by the Government of Canada to help businesses weather the COVID-19 crisis. We will use this opportunity to make recommendations for the future. Of course, we're still in a pandemic.
I would like to point out that we've provided the clerk with a reference document, which can be sent to you once the translation is completed.
Since it's such a nice day today, we're going to cool you down a little by talking about snow. We know there are beautiful ski resorts in Mr. Ste-Marie's riding. I'm pleased to point that out.
Skiing has been in the DNA of Canadians and Quebeckers for 100 years. We represent 75 ski resorts in Quebec. This activity generates $800 million in economic spinoffs annually and over 33,000 jobs. It's the province's primary winter tourism activity.
Fortunately for us, the Government of Quebec authorized ski resorts to operate this winter with very strict restrictions, but we are extremely grateful for the fact that we were able to welcome skiers on our slopes. If not for COVID-19, the downhill ski industry contributes $863 million to Quebec's economy, representing 8.6% of the province's tourism GDP.
As members of Parliament, you will surely be interested to know that there are 236 ski resorts in Canada. They are in every province, in your province, in Prince Edward Island, Mr. Chair, and in the Yukon. Unfortunately, the Northwest Territories doesn't have one yet, but we're working on it.
This year, the financial situation of ski resorts has weakened by the pandemic. As such, the measures put in place by the Government of Canada have been beneficial overall. That said, a closer look at these measures reveals some shortcomings. The most beneficial measure for tourism and skiing during the crisis was undoubtedly the Canada emergency wage subsidy, or CEWS, and we thank the government for that.
As a result of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19, the CEWS helped to offset the industry's financial losses and keep key people employed as early as last spring. However, we regret that ski resorts that are affiliated with a municipality and are required to be profitable from own-source revenues generated by the centre are not eligible for this measure. Of course, when we think of skiing, we think of Whistler, Blue Mountain, Ontario, Lake Louise, Alberta. Here in Quebec, Tremblant comes to mind, but most ski resorts in Canada are small resorts that offer winter activities to local and regional clientele.
In Quebec, for instance, eight major resorts generated revenues of $213 million last year. Furthermore, the 36 resorts in the so-called “small category” shared total revenues of $13 million, or only 4% of the industry's total revenues last season.
Here's the issue with respect to the CEWS. Many regional ski resorts are not-for-profit organizations, such as Mont-Orford or Val d'Irène, that have varying degrees of ties to municipalities or RCMs. Consulting firms informed the resorts that their ties to their municipality, however weak they may be, jeopardized their eligibility for the CEWS.
In this context, we would obviously like to see the measure made available to all ski resorts, and we are counting on the Standing Committee on Finance to ensure that this eligibility is broadened and that the difficulty posed by the restriction on public enterprises is understood. That isn't the case for ski resorts that are affiliated with an RCM or municipality, as I just said.
I'd also like to talk about the federal government's very beneficial subsidy program to help businesses adapt to health security standards. In Quebec, there was a $7 million envelope. Unfortunately, major resorts such as Tremblant and Bromont didn't qualify because of the sales they had generated before the crisis. From our perspective, the program should be available to all tourism businesses.
There are also, of course, all the loan and loan guarantee measures. The only thing we'd like to point out is that companies don't want to take on more debt and therefore prefer direct assistance. For this reason, the Canada emergency wage subsidy is the best measure. So it should be expanded and maintained after June, to ensure fairness and not jeopardize the survival of ski resorts. Those are some of the findings.
I'll continue with the recommendations.
We just talked about the emergency wage subsidy. In terms of promotion efforts, we hope that the economic and tourism recovery won't be achieved solely through the traditional big city establishments.
Hon. members, you know what I'm talking about. You represent regions and rural areas. These areas, especially mountain communities, have large areas that encourage a safe resumption of tourism activity.
The federal government should invest in diverse experiences to build back better and to entice visitors to move outside packed cities into rural areas.
We invite you to consider programs such as PAFIRS, the Programme d'aide financière aux infrastructures récréatives et sportives, which was set up in Quebec.
Unfortunately, the government excluded ski resorts. Cross-country ski areas and snowmobile clubs received government support, but there was no federal government support for downhill skiing in Quebec.
We need this support, among other things, for climate change adaptation. I'm sure Ms. May is receptive to that concern. The ski industry has the opportunity to invest in new technologies and innovative solutions, including snowmaking. Given the costs of these new technologies, we hope to be able to count on assistance to modernize our equipment and therefore contribute to a greener, more sustainable economy.
In closing, we would be pleased to provide you with the data you need for your work. We hope to be able to count on your support to sustain tourism development in rural areas.
Thank you for your attention.