Senator Sorensen urges tourism rethink, laments changes to foreign worker program

Senator Karen Sorensen. / SENATE OF CANADA PHOTO

Rural communities across Canada depend on tourism for their survival, Senator Karen Sorensen told colleagues as she opened a new Senate inquiry into the “nation-building value” of the sector.

“There are small towns across this country who are literally sustained by the local tourism and hospitality sector,” Sorensen said, noting that jobs at “lodges, campgrounds, restaurants and hotels or as outfitters and guides” help keep younger generations living and working in the communities where they grew up.

Sorensen, a former mayor of Banff, said she launched the inquiry after discussions with Darren Reeder of the Tourism Industry Association of Alberta about keeping tourism “on the political agenda in Ottawa.” She emphasized that tourism’s value extends far beyond big-ticket attractions.

“When you hear the word ‘tourism,’ you might think of cruises, ski chalets or big events like the Calgary Stampede,” she said. But she urged senators to “think again,” adding that even “a concert hall, a charming holiday market or a popular hiking trail” can draw visitors and generate revenue in communities that may not see themselves as tourist destinations.

Citing examples from coast to coast, Sorensen highlighted the economic and cultural weight of the sector. Campgrounds, resorts and chalets create “well over 10,000 jobs across Canada, many of them in small, rural communities,” she said, while business travellers spend an average of $900 in host cities, according to Meetings Mean Business Canada.

She warned, however, that tourism remains “uniquely vulnerable” to outside shocks — from extreme weather and regulatory changes to “a years-long global pandemic.” Labour challenges, particularly in remote regions, have compounded the strain.

Senator Rodger Cuzner, responding to Sorensen’s remarks, focused on workforce shortages in rural and seasonal regions. Tourism in many areas is “seasonal,” he said, and often depends on temporary foreign workers. He asked Sorensen to elaborate on “some of the challenges that they are facing in providing services to those tourists.”

Sorensen drew parallels between tourism and other rural industries. “It is amazing how similar the conversations are around temporary foreign workers and workforces in rural areas,” she said. She argued that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program “served the industry incredibly well” in the past and “is a path to permanent residency,” citing Banff as an example. But the sector no longer has a dedicated stream, and she urged the government to reconsider.

“I would hope that tourism would be looked at seriously by the government in terms of temporary foreign workers and giving them a specific stream,” she said.