Mr. Speaker, it is a great day for the tourism industry.
Today's Statistics Canada data shows that from January 2017 to August, 2017, we welcomed over 14.6 million international tourists, up 4.3% from 2016. This is especially great news during Small Business Week, as most of Canada's tourism businesses are small businesses. More visitors means more growth in the sector, which means more jobs for Canadians. Of this year's visitors, 10.5% were from China. This is amazing news as we prepare for the 2018 Canada-China Year of Tourism.
As I am on my feet, I would like to wish everyone celebrating, happy Diwali.