Workforce development key component of tourism initiatives

Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) held an event in Toronto at Nathan Phillips Square in front of city hall on July 15. 

Among those in attendance were Tara Saunders, ITAC’s director of business development, and Teresa Ryder, who serves as the association’s director of sponsorships.

Saunders said new private sector funding in the amount of $35 million annually for the next seven years will assist with workforce development.

“Our new funding really enables us to focus not only on entrepreneurs or creating new businesses, but also individual Indigenous people and getting them the skills and tools that they need to enter the workforce in Indigenous tourism,” she said. 

“So, using Indigenous tourism as a career path, or as a means to find viable work, connecting them to Indigenous business owners, which then can trickle down to increase their education, their health, their wealth and well-being within their community.”

Saunders also broke the news that ITAC will introduce a new wage subsidy program that will offer Indigenous people work placements with a tourism business. They will be paid up to $16,000 per person or $20 an hour for their job placement.

“We're hoping that this year we can place 250 individuals in the tourism industry through this wage subsidy program. We're hoping to launch in the fall sometime, either late September or October,” Saunders said.  

ITAC reps are keen to ensure those in the new program will be in placements that allow them to acquire skills so they can continue to be involved in the tourism industry on a long-term basis.

Saunders said workforce development has been an ITAC priority in the past. For example, a job-posting website was launched last year at www.discoverindigenoustourism.ca

“Indigenous tourism employers can go post their job postings, and then we can connect them to Indigenous employees and vice versa,” Saunders said. “An employee who wants to work in the space or is interested in making this a career can go on and see what's available and upload their resume. So, it's just really serving as a connection piece between the employer and the employees.”

Youth involvement is encouraged, Saunders said. 

“And that is another priority of this funding—really focusing on youth and women and underserved sectors of the population. But it's not just for youth. It's open to any Indigenous employees, which I think is really good, because we can capture people that want to reskill or retrain or just get into a different field.”

The individuals who will be part of ITAC’s new wage subsidy program will be spread across the country.

“We are hoping to work with our provincial and territorial Indigenous tourism associations to help us make those connections,” said Saunders. 

Like other ITAC officials, Ryder is thrilled with the new $35 million in annual funding.

“This is groundbreaking,” she said. “The new funding really unlocks flexibility for us because, in years past, accessing federal resources has been challenging. And we know that the current federal call to reduce budgets is going to continue to limit that. So, this gives us the ability to continue to do the work that we've done for the last 10 years. But in a new way.”

Ryder said the new funding will allow ITAC to build on programs with established partners, including Parks Canada, Destination Canada and the federal government.

“It kind of fills a gap that we had identified years ago with the intention of finding own-source funding,” said Ryder. “So, this gives us the flexibility to leverage, which we know will be important in the current federal environment. So, we're really looking forward to continuing to enhance those relationships with this resource beyond what we were able to do with the limited funds that were available previously.”

Ryder said the new funding does not come with any conditions.

“Often their funding comes with strings,” she said of ITAC’s other partners. “So, this really allows us to be creative and look at things differently because we're not coming from a position of needing the resources to survive or to do a little pilot or to do a small program. We can really think bigger than what we've been able to do before.”

ITAC reps continue to seek more partnerships.

“We've really looked at partners that share and align values with ITAC and the work that we do to allow us to continue to be Indigenous led and to support the work from an Indigenous lens,” she said. “And so, we’re really open to other partners that align with the goals that we have to be the leader in Indigenous tourism by 2030.”