Downhill skiing revenue lifts, but profit margins slide

Skiers and snowboarders embrace the snow like few others, sometimes literally when they fall down. Up, however, best described the Canadian ski industry in 2023 with many records broken.

Operating revenue at skiing facilities more than doubles since 2012

The 2022/2023 ski season marked the first time since the beginning of the pandemic that skiing facilities could operate without any public health-related restrictions.

Revenues for this industry were lifted by an increase in local skiers and the return of international visitors, as the number of non-resident visitors entering Canada during the ski season (November 2022 to April 2023) increased 143.0% compared with the same period a year earlier.

Operating revenue from skiing facilities grew 16.4% year over year to a record-high $1.5 billion in 2023, over double (+106%) the revenue earned in 2012 at the beginning of the time series.

Salaries, wages, commissions and benefits rose at an even faster pace in 2023, up 18.9% to a record $528.8 million.

Rising fastest of all was operating expenses, up 21.0% to $1.3 billion, also a record high.

As a result, the operating profit margins at ski facilities fell from the record high 19.4% a year earlier to 16.2% in 2023, the second-highest profit margin on record and three times higher than the profit margins of the early 2010s.

British Columbia and Quebec remain Canada’s premier ski destinations

Although there were ski facilities in every province and Yukon in 2023, data were suppressed in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Yukon to protect respondent confidentiality.

Nova Scotia ski facilities reported the highest revenue among the Atlantic provinces in 2023 at $11.3 million. However, their expenses ($13.4 million) were higher than their revenue, leading the province to record the lone profit margin loss (-18.4%) nationally.

British Columbia ($583.9 million) and Quebec ($426.7 million) remained Canada’s premier ski destinations, accounting for two-thirds of total revenue, followed by Alberta ($282.5 million) and Ontario ($179.8 million). Ontario ski facilities reported the highest profit margins nationally at 19.1%.