Finance committee  Thank you for the question. I will tell you, our industry is half of what it was pre pandemic. I have examples every day from tourism operators who are going deeper and deeper into debt trying to maintain payroll, trying to maintain their premises, whether it's rent or mortgages.

Finance committee  We've been looking at lots of the programs that already exist within immigration and at how our industry is able to access those programs. We've come to the conclusion that we're looking for a stream that is specific to the industry. We know our population is shrinking. We are a great opportunity for new Canadians, so we see immigration as a way for us to gain the skills, the knowledge and the expertise we are missing right now within our sector.

Finance committee  I hope that works better for everyone.

Finance committee  That's a great question. We, as an industry, are working right now, as an example, with the Ontario government on their mobile benefit program. It's a pilot program and it looks like it could be a really good way of maintaining and keeping staff. Right now, that's not the issue.

Finance committee  I'm going to let Blake take this one.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question, I really do appreciate it. I will tell you that one of the first things that has to happen is we need to reopen our borders and make it easier for people to travel to and from Canada. Right now, that is the biggest stumbling block. That is what consumers are basing their decisions on when deciding whether they are going to book right now, which is the booking window for March break and for the summer season.

Finance committee  Thank you. Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting me today. We appreciate the opportunity to share our industry's key priorities with you once again. You've heard me say this before: The tourism industry was the first hit, the hardest hit, and will be the last to recover from the pandemic.

Finance committee  Thank you, Ms. May. I really appreciate your kind words. Our industry is unique, and there's no getting around that. We're an industry that brings people together. We're an industry that ebbs and flows with not only the weather but the seasons. At this point, we are looking for every possible way we can rebuild the industry to what it used to be, to get back to the vibrant industry that was growing and employing close to a million people here in Canada.

Finance committee  Thanks, Mark. I completely agree with what Mark has just said. There are other things that need to be taken into consideration. Our industry was hit with all of these restrictions, and because of the complete shutdown, the lockdown and the closed borders, we had to lay off an inordinate number of our employees.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, and through the chair, happy birthday to you. The impact that this will have is that it will keep doors open. It will keep businesses alive. It will keep people employed. We are looking at a number of businesses, a large swath of businesses, that did not have a great summer as far as revenues are concerned.

Finance committee  Of the $105 billion in spending that we realize in a year, about 60% of that would be allocated to those six months.

Finance committee  I can tell you that in what we call the “high season”, the summer months between May and October, one day's revenue can equal a week's revenue in February. I think that gives you a sense of how a lot of businesses really rely on that summer season. Of course, there are businesses that are solely winter season, but in a number of sectors—the business event sector, for example—they really rely on the shoulder seasons.

Finance committee  Access for sole proprietors has been a real challenge across many of the programs that have been available through COVID, so certainly we are constantly looking for an opportunity to correct our course on that one. If there were that opportunity in Bill C-2, we would of course support it.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for the question. I'll just say that so many of these businesses now have missed two full seasons of revenue generation, so they have burned through any kind of reserve they had and any kinds of savings they had. They've taken on as much debt as they can afford to.

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair and members of the committee, I would like to thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. My name is Beth Potter. I am the president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. I want to thank you for allowing me to appear before you today and for the opportunity to share with you just how important Bill C-2 is to businesses and employers in Canada's tourism industry.