The Feds Are Investing $68.5M In Ontario's Tourism Sector & It Could Lead To Over 4K Jobs

The federal government is going to be putting some money towards the south end of the province to rev up tourism for Ontario travel destinations.

In a press release posted on April 6, the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario announced that the feds are promising to give $68.5 million from the Tourism Relief Fund to the region, an area that has some of the most-loved vacation spots in Canada.

They said it'll "create and maintain 4,200 jobs", and will "support 1,340 tourism entities" in the province.

"This investment will help tourism businesses and communities safely welcome back visitors, recover from the impacts of the pandemic and prepare for future growth," they expressed.

Indigenous Tourism Ontario will receive $3.5 million alone, and 11 other regional tourism organizations across the province will be getting $65 million combined.

The government noted that this will help attract international and domestic visitors through distributing funds in the form of "non-repayable contributions of up to $100,000 to southern Ontario tourism-oriented businesses and organizations," which they believe will allow them to improve the experience of tourists.

"[This] will [also] provide non-repayable contributions of up to $100,000 to Indigenous businesses, not-for-profit organizations, Band Councils, and Indigenous communities," they noted.

According to the release, the ITO will also be delivering the Renew Indigenous Tourism program, in order to help Indigenous entrepreneurs, businesses, and organizations recover from the pandemic.

The money will also go towards supporting 40 Indigenous projects, they said, and that this alone would "create and maintain up to 100 jobs."

With some southern cities in the province seeing the most search traffic from eager travellers looking to come to Canada, the tourism industry in Ontario might just be revving up again for the incoming busy seasons ahead.