Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC)

The Northern Tourism Recovery Incubator developed by ITAC was created to support SMEs in Northern communities to strengthen their business, rebuild Indigenous tourism operators and re-train staff members to support visitors and public health expectations as the tourism industry recovers.

The needs of these businesses were assessed through a national accreditation program (Project Rise) which provided individual business assessments and aggregated data for ongoing support. By working with the Indigenous provincial and territorial partners, ITAC supported the effective delivery of regionally specific support to revitalize operators ahead of the 2023 operating season. Regional needs were considered as businesses reported through the accreditation program, recognizing that the gaps in one part of the country may not be the same as another. This coordinated effort aimed to increase tourism revenues and jobs by increasing Indigenous tourism products to meet visitor demands.

Aerial view of the airport. Airplane taxiing to runway.

Featured Projects

Shot of two young cooks preparing food in the kitchen
Project

Cook to connect

The program addresses challenges most newcomers to Canada face in the first five years after their arrival when searching for employment; a lack of Canadian experience and language barriers specific to a work context. To that end, the C2C program provides culinary instruction, English-language lessons and experience in a catering kitchen workplace.
Worker cutting timber
State of Skills

Supporting Indigenous and Northern Entrepreneurship and SMEs

Indigenous and Northern entrepreneurship and businesses play a crucial role in bolstering local economies by supporting economic diversification, job creation and community development. 
Research

Skills and productivity: Which skills shortages are impacting Canadian productivity?

Canada has a productivity problem. Labour productivity growth—the amount of output produced per hour worked—has stalled. The Canadian economy’s labour productivity at the end of 2023 was around the same as it was in 2017. This is the second time that Canada’s productivity growth has been notably weaker than the United States’ in recent decades, with the first occurring between 2003 and 2012.
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