Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today in concurrence of the fourth report from the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology regarding the order in council appointment of Marsha Walden as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Tourism Commission, now known as Destination Canada.
On October 29, 2020, the committee met to consider Ms. Walden's appointment. At that time I had the opportunity to attend and take part in the session as we examined Ms. Walden's qualifications to assume this most important leadership position. Ms. Walden is assuming this position at a critical time for the industry. In fact, during our meeting in October, I noted that according to Destination Canada's own status of the industry report, it had forecast that our Canadian tourism sector would not recover to its record high levels of 2019 until 2024 at the earliest. The Destination Canada report indicated this would be “a catastrophic loss for our economy.” Given COVID's continued impact, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada now estimates it will be 2026 before this sector recovers to its record-setting numbers set in 2019.
Also during our October meeting, I noted the industry report indicated that the federal government needed to “provide a light at the end of the tunnel”. However, as we continue to watch the federal government struggle to secure our vaccine supply and implement widespread rapid testing, our tourism sector is left to struggle. In other words, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the federal government's dreadful and mismanaged response to it, has set the Canadian travel and tourism industry back instead of providing the much-needed light at the end of the tunnel that this industry so badly needs.
That is why we need the federal government to succeed in getting Canadians vaccinated more quickly. That is why we need the federal government to succeed in procuring and implementing rapid testing devices across the country so we can begin returning our lives to normal. Canadian businesses associated with travel and tourism have been some of the hardest hit. Many of them joined an advocacy movement called just that: the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses. When the federal government closed our land borders and implemented stringent travel restrictions in March 2020, our Canadian airlines and airports were immediately shuttered. While other countries were quick to financially support their aviation sectors, our federal government has yet to provide the financial aid that is so urgently required.
In addition to shutting the engines that literally drive our domestic and international travel and tourism economy, this pandemic has greatly impacted many small and medium-sized businesses including hotels and accommodations, restaurants and attractions. Nearly every sector within Canada's travel and tourism industry has experienced disruption, uncertainty and harm to its daily operations, revenues and business planning forecasts. When businesses are impacted at this magnitude, workers and employment are also severely disrupted; therefore, it is not surprising that we are continually hearing more about layoffs and job losses across these industries, and higher unemployment numbers in this industry compared with others.
For example, the Hotel Association of Canada says that in April 2020, there were 114,000 jobs in the sector. As of December 2020, this number was reduced to 87,500 workers. Many hoteliers are now wondering how long it will be before they run out of cash: 40% of operators do not think they will make it past this month and 70% say they will not make it until the spring.
Another example of employment hardship is in the restaurant industry. According to Restaurants Canada, in the first six weeks of the pandemic, the food service sector lost more than the entire Canadian economy lost during the 2008-09 recession. Let that resonate for a moment. One out of every five jobs lost to the pandemic has been in the food service sector. According to the December labour force survey from Statistics Canada, at least 316,000 fewer people are employed in the food service sector right now than there were in February 2020.
It is a similar story in our aviation sector. We hear about more layoffs, more job losses and more regional route closures basically every other week. COVID-19 and the government responses to it have had devastating impacts on these industries and on the jobs they provide for Canadians. When these sectors and others are taken together, the national unemployment rate according to Statistics Canada was 9.4% as of February 5.
However, the unemployment in Canada's travel and tourism industry far exceeds this number. It currently sits at 18.6%, nearly double the national unemployment rate, which underscores just how hard hit Canada's travel and tourism industry has been.
Canada's Conservatives, as the official opposition, have been pleased to work with private-sector stakeholders to listen and advocate on their behalf as we learn to understand their challenges going through the pandemic. That is why we have been pleased to work with the federal government on improving many of the emergency programs that were hastily launched without much consultation, understanding or consideration of the stakeholders they were intended to help. Through our good work and the federal government's co-operation, we have been able to improve emergency business programs such as the Canada emergency wage subsidy, the Canada emergency rent subsidy and the Canada emergency business account. While we are pleased with these improvements, our work is far from over.
These programs, and the newly created highly affected sectors credit availability program, are designed to be temporary, and their goal is to help businesses survive through the pandemic. They have little to do with the economic recovery that is needed on the other side. That is where Ms. Walden and Destination Canada will play a major role. A core mandate of the federal agency is to influence travel and tourism supply, and build demand for the benefit of locals, communities and visitors through leading research, aligning with public and private sectors and marketing Canada nationally and abroad. There is no doubt that Destination Canada will play a critical role in supporting tourism recovery from coast to coast to coast as early as this summer, or at least so I hope.
The Prime Minister has repeatedly stated that everyone who wants a vaccine will have one by September. For this to happen, we need our vaccine supply to increase significantly, very soon, so that progress can be made in vaccinating Canadians between now and that time. As of this speech, just over 1.5 million Canadians have been vaccinated in a country with a population of more 38 million.
My riding of Niagara Falls includes Canada's top leisure destination. Our local tourism industry is very much seasonal, and traditionally relies upon a busy and successful summer season to take those important small and medium-sized businesses through the slower shoulder months of the fall and winter. Losing the 2020 summer tourism season, through no fault of their own, has had a detrimental impact, and I cannot imagine the consequences for them of possibly losing a second consecutive summer season this year. If that happens, the fault will land squarely on the shoulders of the federal government for failing to secure enough vaccines for Canadians in a timely manner.
Destination Canada must be ready to assist the federal government as we move forward. The 2021 federal budget should outline a detailed plan and measures to achieve tourism recovery, and I look forward to reviewing these plans when they are released. Destination Canada will play a major role in informing the government of what is needed for tourism recovery in alignment with industry partners, and I sincerely hope to see measures that will support our Canadian travel and tourism industry, especially those who have been hardest hit.
I am also aware of the excellent tourism recovery plan that has been proposed by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. What better place to start helping the industry than by listening directly to what the industry needs?
While I do not hold much confidence in this government under the absentee leadership of our Prime Minister, I do hold hope that Ms. Walden will bring leadership to Destination Canada at a time when it is so dearly needed. As such, I concur with the committee on its fourth report as presented to the House.