PrairiesCan funding of $4 million will bolster the ability of Indigenous Tourism Alberta to draw more visitors to authentic Indigenous experiences, events and attractions across the province
March 13, 2024 – Calgary, Alberta – PrairiesCan
The Government of Canada is investing in the growth of tourism to support economic reconciliation and enable Indigenous communities on the Prairies to share their stories, traditions, and landscapes with visitors from across Canada and around the world. In Alberta, authentic Indigenous experiences and offerings are a key driver of the region’s tourism economy and support quality jobs in big cities and small towns alike.
Today the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister for PrairiesCan, announced $4 million in federal funding for Indigenous Tourism Alberta to strengthen the ability of small- and medium-sized Indigenous tourism businesses to develop and market their products and offerings to a global audience.
As an Indigenous-led, not-for-profit industry association, Indigenous Tourism Alberta is well positioned to grow Indigenous tourism capacity and promote Alberta’s authentic Indigenous experiences.
Today’s investment will enable the organization to carry out several key activities, including:
Delivering a series of tourism product development workshops for Indigenous tourism operators in northern and southern Alberta.
Launching digital and in-person marketing campaigns targeting potential visitors from key markets such as Japan, Germany, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom.
Establishing commercial relationships with travel wholesalers and distributors in key international markets to increase awareness of Alberta’s Indigenous tourism experiences and introduce authentic Indigenous tourism packages to travel retailers.
Strengthening networking and engagement among member organizations and the travel industry to identify and assess consumer trends and sales opportunities.
The collaborative nature of this initiative links to principles of the federal government’s new Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy which include advancing economic reconciliation. Over the next four years, this investment is expected to support the growth of about 165 small- and medium-sized Indigenous tourism businesses, assist in the creation and expansion of at least 10 new businesses, and support approximately 100 jobs.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
