Canada Tourism Research Brief

International leisure travel driving sector growth. The tourism industry continued to expand at a faster pace than the overall economy in the first quarter of 2026, with real output rising by 0.5 per cent compared with a modest 0.1 per cent gain across all industries. Growth was supported by stronger international activity, as spending by inbound tourists increased by 0.9 per cent, more than offsetting a slight 0.2 per cent decline in spending by domestic leisure travellers. Total accommodation spending rose by 0.5 per cent, driven primarily by a 1.3 per cent increase from foreign visitors. As a result, demand from nonresident travellers now sits firmly above levels recorded at the end of 2024, before trade and geopolitical tensions that weighed on international travel through the third quarter of 2025.