News Release, April 6, 2022, Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
Investment will help over 1,300 tourism entities, including Indigenous tourism, recover, while creating and maintaining up to 4,200 jobs
Tourism is essential to the vitality of local businesses and communities across southern Ontario, bringing millions of visitors to the region each year. Indigenous tourism offers unique opportunities for Indigenous cultural expression and preservation to be shared with visitors from around the world. The Government of Canada is continuing to support the tourism sector as Canada recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring local tourism businesses have the tools they need to position themselves for a strong and resilient economic future.
Today, the Honourable Helena Jaczek, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced a total investment of $68.5 million through the Tourism Relief Fund for Indigenous Tourism Ontario and 11 Regional Tourism Organizations (RTOs) across southern Ontario. This investment will help tourism businesses and communities safely welcome back visitors, recover from the impacts of the pandemic and prepare for future growth...
As part of this investment, 11 RTOs across southern Ontario will also receive a combined investment of $65 million to distribute funding through non-repayable contributions of up to $100,000 to southern Ontario tourism-oriented businesses and organizations to innovate and invest in new and enhanced tourism experiences to attract visitors from within Canada and around the world. This investment will support up to 1,300 tourism entities and create or maintain up to 4,100 jobs. Please see the backgrounder for additional project details.
