Finance committee  Business events and business travel represent 40% of our industry. That would be the equivalent of the entire tourism industry in Ontario. If we took Ontario out of the equation, what would that look like for our industry here in Canada? Business events book out several years in advance—in fact, up to 10 years in advance.

Finance committee  I will say that there are two pieces that I think government has a role to play in with respect to assisting the industry to attract and maintain a healthy workforce. The two destinations that you just mentioned, Banff and Whistler, are prime examples of affordable housing not being available for workers.

Finance committee  In a short answer, yes, we would. The repayment changes that were made earlier this year just don't go far enough to give tourism businesses the time to pay back the loan and to realize the forgivable portion.

Finance committee  We did a study with Nanos Research that showed that 55% of tourism businesses had taken on a large amount of debt during the pandemic, and 45% of them told us that if there aren't some changes made to the repayment structure, they could close their doors in the next three years.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. It's always great to see you, MP Weiler. I will say that when we are building hotels, as an example, the long-term gain is far down the road. We have an example right now in Calgary, where we have a new convention centre that has been built, but we don't have any hotel rooms to go with it.

Finance committee  We have about 300,000 unfilled jobs at this point in time across our industry and across all types of positions. Just to give you a sense of where that has come from, first of all, prior to the pandemic we were already in a challenging situation when it came to labour. The pandemic heightened that.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good morning. Thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee today. I am speaking to you today from the unceded and ancestral territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations, which has been stewarded by them since time immemorial.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  As part of a series of other measures we are applying for the government to do, that can be included, for sure.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Certainly if we have a labour pool that is already invested in our industry here in Canada and ready to work, absolutely.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Good afternoon.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I do agree. The labour market assessment is prohibitive. It extends the time period that it takes to get the application through. The cost that's associated with it is challenging for a lot of businesses. Also, the 30-day wait on advertising the position, especially in this climate, seems redundant.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I agree. I would absolutely agree with that.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It is one of the reasons. Certainly, seasonality adds a complication to the hiring process within our industry, but the other thing that I would point out is that tourism is a global sport, and we actually move our workforce around the globe. To be able to bring in staff for seasonality, to bring in staff that follow the seasons....

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Just for clarification.... You're asking about travel visas.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  With regard to the travel visas, there's a process that people go through that allows the government to vet them. If they have received a travel visa, then the idea of extending that travel visa, if they have a return ticket, is something that we can absolutely prioritize. If they're looking to kind of transfer that travel visa into a work visa, again, there is a process in place that should allow for that to happen.