Alberta restaurants increase their sales; Canadian and U.S. tourists up
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Alberta isn't alone. Instead, the trend is consistent across Canada, and its most important driver is a push to buy local and ditch travel plans to the U.S. following President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs and annexation, says Siddhartha Bhattacharya, an economist with financial institution ATB, which is also a provincial crown corporation.
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Trump's rhetoric has prompted a decline in American air travel among Canadians. The number of Canadians returning to Calgary and Edmonton airports from the U.S. fell by 7.2 per cent in June from last year, while returns from Canadian destinations rose, according to ATB.
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The flow of American tourists, meanwhile, has only been rising.
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ATB's analysis shows that the number of Americans entering Canada via Alberta's airports has grown by more than 11 per cent. 'That's definitely boosting revenues,' Bhattacharya said.
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Also propelling the province's hospitality industry is population growth. Alberta swelled by more than 200,000 residents last year, and Bhattacharya said ATB projects more than 120,000 newcomers will have moved to the province by the end of this year. Despite the pressures on infrastructure, the pattern has proved favourable for certain industries.
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More people means more demand and more labour. Employment in the food and accommodation sector in the first half of this year was up by 4.9 from the same period in 2024. The trend is buffeted by a softer inflation, which fell from 5.9 per cent in 2023 to 3.6 per cent in 2024. However, higher revenues could also be a result of increased prices over the years.
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Alberta, however, isn't the province with the highest revenue gains in its hospitality sector. New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan all boast a rise of eight per cent or more in proceeds from the previous year, although the numbers don't yet include the economic impact from hosting the G7 and the Rotary convention, which drew thousands of people to Alberta.
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Bhattacharya said geopolitical tensions have inevitably infiltrated the domestic markets in Canada, and so he expects a drop in consumer purchases over the next few months as the effects of tariffs begin to unfold. However, the restaurant industry may remain relatively unscathed.
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'It's a healthy sign that dining out is on a relatively strong footing. And even for our future outlook . . . we don't expect a huge drop-off point or a turnaround in this sector,' Bhattacharya said.
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