Statistics Canada
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Highlights

  • Tourism generated $19.4 billion of revenue for all three levels of government in Canada in 2006. This was up 4.8% from one year earlier and 29.4% from 2000.
  • For every dollar of tourism spending ($66.8 billion in 2006), governments raised 29.1 cents, up from 27.9 cents in 2000.
  • Tourism accounted for 3.9% of government revenue, more than its 2.0% share of overall Gross Domestic Product in 2006.
  • The federal government raised $9.1 billion through tourism in 2006, 3.9% of its revenue. Provincial/territorial governments received $9.3 billion from tourism, 4.4% of their revenue. Municipal governments collected $1.1 billion, 1.9% of their revenue.
  • For every dollar of tourism spending in 2006, the federal government raised 13.6 cents, the provincial/territorial governments took in 13.9 cents and municipal governments received 1.6 cents.
  • Taxes on products, like the Goods and Services Tax and provincial sales taxes, were the single largest source of tourism revenue for the federal and provincial/territorial governments. These taxes accounted for $4.6 billion for the federal government in 2006, 50.9% of its revenue from tourism. Provincial/territorial governments collected $5.7 billion, 61.1% of their tourism revenue, from this source.
  • Taxes on employment income and business profits were the second most important source of tourism revenue for both the federal and provincial/territorial governments. These income taxes brought in $2.7 billion for the federal government, 30.0% of its revenue from tourism. They brought in another $1.7 billion for provincial/territorial governments, 18.8% of their revenues from tourism.
  • Other taxes on production, mainly property taxes, were the chief source of tourism revenue for municipalities. Tourism generated $0.9 billion via these taxes for municipal governments, 81.0% of their tourism revenue.