Real tourism gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2025, following a 0.9% increase in the third quarter. By comparison, economy-wide real GDP by industry contracted 0.1% in the fourth quarter, following a 0.6% increase in the third quarter. Tourism GDP accounted for 1.74% of nominal GDP in the fourth quarter, according to a report released Friday by Statistics Canada.
Tourism spending in Canada grew 1.2%, as outlays by both international visitors and Canadians travelling at home increased in the fourth quarter, said the federal agency.
In the fourth quarter, growth in real tourism GDP was mainly driven by increased activity in the transportation (+3.5%) and accommodation (+1.0%) industries. The only decline was among non-tourism industries (-0.4%). Annually, real tourism GDP grew 2.2% in 2025. By comparison, economy-wide real GDP by industry grew 1.6%, noted Statistics Canada.
“Spending by international visitors grew 3.6% in the fourth quarter, the fastest pace in two years. Tourism spending on all products increased, with passenger air transport (+5.3%) and accommodation services (+2.8%) contributing most to the overall growth,” it said.
“Overnight travel to Canada from abroad increased 3.7% in the fourth quarter. This was the largest quarterly increase of 2025, as travel from the United States in the first half of the year was lower amid continued Canada-US trade tensions. This weaker start contributed to a 0.7% annual decline in spending by international visitors in 2025 despite growth in the latter half of the year.
“Spending by international visitors accounted for 24.0% of all tourism spending in Canada in the fourth quarter, up from 23.5% in the third quarter.”
Domestic tourism spending by Canadian residents was up 0.5% in the fourth quarter, after edging down 0.2% in the third quarter. Growth was mostly driven by increased outlays on passenger air transport (+3.2%), which offset declines in travel services (-4.7%), pre-trip expenditures (-2.2%) such as luggage and camping equipment, and non-tourism products (-1.2%). An increase in the number of Canadians returning to Canada by air likely contributed to the rise in spending on passenger air transport. Annually, tourism spending in Canada by Canadian residents increased 2.5% in 2025, following similar growth in 2024 (+2.4%), said the report.
Statistics Canada said the number of jobs attributable to tourism increased 0.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, following an increase of 0.6% in the third quarter. By comparison, the economy-wide number of jobs was up 0.8% in the fourth quarter.
“The food and beverage (+0.5%), air transportation (+1.5%) and recreation and entertainment (+1.1%) industries contributed the most to the growth in the fourth quarter. Tourism’s share of economy-wide jobs was 3.33% in the fourth quarter, virtually unchanged from the previous quarter. Annually, tourism jobs increased 1.3% in 2025, after increasing 1.5% in 2024,” it added.
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