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Labour Market Study of Alberta's Tourism Sector 2023

Labour Market Study of Alberta's Tourism Sector

COVID-19 has caused a significant disruption to the tourism labour market. The sector lost nearly one million workers within the first eight weeks of the pandemic. Today, the sector continues to have hundreds of thousands of fewer workers than pre-pandemic times. As a result, as travel demand rebounds to pre-pandemic levels, businesses will not able to meet demand with their existing labour force. According to Tourism HR Canada, projections to 2025 and 2030 show a growing shortage of workers across all tourism industries: accommodation; food and beverage services; recreation and entertainment, transportation and travel services. Recruitment, retention, and competition from other sectors exacerbate general operating issues. These problems are further compounded by uncertainties around larger economic volatility, shifting visitor expectations, and current climactic and geopolitical instabilities, which make business planning more complex than ever.

As the sector continues to rebuild in the wake of this unprecedented disruption, tourism employers require targeted support and guidance as they navigate the challenging economic environment, adapting a variety of solutions to help mitigate the current labour shortage.  Effective support for tourism workforce recovery, and reducing barriers for talent attraction and retention, require evidence-based strategies, tailored short-term solutions, and changes to policies and programs aimed at providing an immediate and palpable impact. 

In collaboration with Tourism HR Canada, TIAA has released a new study, that identifies the key labour challenges facing the industry and proposes evidence-based recommendations that will produce meaningful change in the tourism sector.

Download the  Full Report.

Download Information Sheets

Download the survey results for the Perceptions of Tourism as a Place of Employment (December 2022).

Download the survey results for the Business and Intelligence Survey (January 2023).