When we think about workforce development in tourism, addressing immediate labour shortages and filling current vacancies is important. But there is another question that requires a longer-term perspective: Where will the people who support our tourism industry five or ten years from now come from?
A June 2026 report jointly published by the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) and the Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) provides valuable insight into this question. While focused on Ontario colleges, the report looks more broadly at how immigration policy, education programs, domestic workforce development, and perceptions of tourism careers are interconnected.
Immigration Policy Changes Are Also Affecting Domestic Workforce Development
International enrolment in Culinary, Tourism and Hospitality (CTH) programs among responding colleges declined by 97% between 2024 and 2026, with recent immigration and Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) policy changes identified as key factors. Domestic enrolment also declined by 54%, as program closures and suspensions affected access for domestic students as well.
This illustrates how immigration policy and domestic workforce development cannot always be viewed separately: changes to one can affect the systems that develop Canada’s future tourism workforce.
The Challenge Is Not Simply a Lack of Jobs
The report also identifies teacher, counsellor and parent awareness and perception, along with students’ perceptions of wages, as leading barriers to domestic recruitment. At the same time, high school outreach, experiential exposure, hands-on programming, and direct student engagement were reported as successful approaches.
This suggests that workforce development cannot begin only when labour shortages become critical. Helping young people experience tourism workplaces and understand potential career pathways is also part of building a long-term talent pipeline.
What Does This Mean for the Yukon?
Ontario and Yukon are very different environments, so the findings cannot simply be applied directly here. However, the report highlights particular risks for rural and northern communities with smaller labour pools, fewer nearby institutions, and limited alternative training pathways.
Immigration has been and remains an important source of workers for Yukon’s tourism industry, and it is not realistic to expect the domestic workforce alone to meet the industry’s labour needs in the short term. That makes it important to address immediate and medium-term needs while also investing in Canada’s future domestic workforce.
TIA Yukon has been placing greater emphasis on career awareness initiatives for local high school students and stronger connections with post-secondary institutions across Canada. These efforts will not fill today’s vacancies overnight. They are a longer-term investment in helping young people see tourism not simply as a job, but as an industry where they can build a career.
The question is not only how we fill today’s vacancies, but how we engage and develop the people our industry will need five or ten years from now.
The report provides a valuable opportunity to consider both sides of that challenge for tourism labour market development across Canada, including here in the Yukon.
