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

Research

Beyond blue and white collar: a skills-based approach to Canadian job groupings

Canadian employers are increasingly thinking about work from a skills perspective. This issue briefing takes a new approach to defining job groupings.
two people in a market
Project

Black African and Caribbean Entrepreneurship Leadership (BACEL)

The overarching goal of this program is to empower Black entrepreneurs across Canada through comprehensive skills building, mentorship and networking opportunities designed to address the needs of these entrepreneurs at different stages of their journeys, including ideation, validation and scaling up.
Two young men in front of a laptop, smiling
Project

Calgary Regional WIL Secretariate and Platform

This project sought to revitalize the Calgary regional labour market by developing a more inclusive and comprehensive model for coordinating work-integrated learning (WIL) opportunities.
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