Federal Budget 2026: Tourism Association Stakeholder Brief

Executive Summary

1. New money for attractions and events, from Parks Canada and the Canada Strong Pass to Canada 160, the Francophonie Summit and the wine program, totals $1,578 million over five years (calculated), and none of it is a tourism program.
2. Air travel support is short-lived: the $2,870 million fuel excise extension falls entirely in 2026-27, and CATSA's $776 million covers 2027-28 with nothing booked after.
3. The only new measure aimed at foreign visitors adds a step: visa-exempt travellers must submit a facial image with their eTA, a $68 million program, while the visitor GST/HST refund the industry sought is absent.

The budget supports Canadians travelling at home and restructures the largest airports. It does nothing new to market Canada abroad. For an association whose members sell to both markets, the result is mildly positive at home and flat abroad.

Top 5 Relevant Budget Measures

* Includes funding classified as capital investment.

1. Airport concessions. The four largest airports would be run by private operators, such as pension funds, for 40 to 50 years while Canada keeps the land (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Chapter 1, s. 1.1). The $42 million covers $37.6 million to prepare the first concession and $4.3 million for a Traveller Biometrics Strategy. For tourism the test is the airport fee in every ticket. The budget promises "clear rules" against unreasonable increases and gives none of them. Proceeds are earmarked for regional routes, smaller airports and possibly a broadband backbone, three claims on the same money.

2. Productivity Mega Deduction. Tourism and hospitality is one of the budget's named categories, with hotel beds, laundry machines, coach buses, sightseeing vessels, chairlifts, snow-making equipment and amusement park rides (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Chapter 1, s. 1.1). This is the largest tax change that reaches the sector. Hotel buildings and resort structures are likely to fall in the excluded "long-lived buildings," and the budget does not list them.

3. Fuel excise relief. The extension was announced September 2, 2026 and is already before Parliament, so the budget re-announces it (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Chapter 3, s. 3.1). It covers aviation fuel. The chapter puts total fuel relief at $5.3 billion in 2026-27. Airlines and coach operators lose it in stages, with half rates from February and full rates on April 1, 2027.

4. CATSA. The cost table books $776 million in 2027-28 and a dash for later years, which means an extension will be considered later (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Chapter 4 cost table). Screening touches every departing and connecting air traveller. One-year funding on top of Budget 2025's efficiency cut leaves wait times exposed in the 2028 season.

5. Canada Strong Pass. The first pass lifted Parks Canada visits by 13%, national museum attendance by 15% and VIA Rail ridership by 6.5% (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Chapter 4, s. 4.1). The renewal is $76 million for one more summer. Most of the $511 million line repairs national museums and keeps them free for under-25s. The pass is a demand program for domestic travel, and it ends each year unless renewed.

Asked For vs. Delivered

6 asks: 3 partly 2 not in this budget 1 went the other way

A digital GST/HST refund for international visitors

Jean-Christophe Bédos, Alliance for Visitor's Tax Refund, FINA, Oct 6

No visitor refund appears.

–

Not in this budget

Act on the cumulative cost of passenger rules, taxes and fees

John Weatherill, WestJet, CPAC, Sep 23 and Oct 6

Airport fee rules are promised, with nothing on passenger protection rules.

Airport concessions

Partly

Adopt a national aviation strategy

John Weatherill, WestJet, CPAC, Sep 23 and Oct 6

Concessions and a regional air plan, with no strategy.

Regional air access

Partly

Public debate before monetizing the four major airports

Vass Bednar, Canadian Shield Institute, BNN Bloomberg, Oct 29

The budget commits to concessions and funds the process.

Airport concessions

Went the other way

Make the fuel excise suspension permanent

Canadian Taxpayers Federation, FINA, Oct 5, Western Standard, Sep 21

The suspension, extended September 2, runs only to the end of January 2027. Standard rates return April 1, 2027.

Fuel excise relief

Partly

Open tariff relief to land border duty free shops

Tania Lee, Frontier Duty Free Association, FINA, Oct 6

The tariff fund grows by $1.5 billion with no word on duty free.

Supporting workers and businesses

Not in this budget

Asks compiled by Stephen Taylor's AI Public Affairs Toolset, September 15 to November 5, 2026.

No ask from a national tourism association itself appeared in the record. The visitor refund and border retail asks came from coalitions close to the sector, and both are open items for the next cycle.

Risks

• Screening. CATSA has no money booked after 2027-28. Budget 2025 cut CATSA by $30.5 million in 2026-27, rising to $48.9 million a year from 2028-29 (Budget 2025: Canada Strong, Annex 3, Table A3.22). If the 2028-29 renewal is late or smaller, then screening capacity tightens at the peak of the summer season.
• Fuel costs. Fuel relief ends April 1, 2027. In the budget's supply disruptions scenario oil averages US$86 a barrel in 2027 against US$79 in the baseline (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Annex 1, Table A1.12). Airfares and coach prices follow fuel.
• Airport fees. Concession operators would hold the four largest airports for decades. The fee rules, the transparency legislation and the ground rent formula are all promised with no text or date (Chapter 1, s. 1.1).
• Visitor entry. The eTA facial image requirement starts with money in 2027-28 and carries $22 million in projected revenues (Chapter 3 cost table). This suggests a fee or a cost on the applicant. The budget does not say when the requirement applies.
• Marketing abroad. The budget is silent on Destination Canada. Budget 2025 cut the Canadian Tourism Commission by $4.8 million in 2026-27, rising to $6.9 million a year ongoing (Budget 2025: Canada Strong, Annex 3, Table A3.16). The International Convention Attraction Fund was extended at $5 million a year only to 2028-29 (Spring Economic Update 2026, Annex 1, Table A1.15).
• Parks operations. Budget 2025's savings take $75 million a year from Parks Canada from 2028-29 and limit its presence at off-site community events and festivals (Budget 2025: Canada Strong, Annex 3). Over 2026-27 to 2030-31 that is $294.9 million (calculated), more than the $278 million accrued for new assets.
• Seasonal labour. Temporary resident arrivals are set at 370,000 a year for 2027 to 2029 (Chapter 3, s. 3.4). Extra EI weeks for seasonal workers in 13 regions end in October 2028 (Spring Economic Update 2026, Chapter 2).

Opportunities

• Equipment write-off. The Productivity Mega Deduction covers the furniture, vehicles, lifts and rides tourism operators buy. Its fiscal cost starts in 2026-27, and the Canada Revenue Agency decides eligibility once legislation is tabled (Chapter 1, s. 1.1).
• Domestic demand. The Canada Strong Pass runs again in summer 2027 and adds discounted access to Indigenous-led museums and cultural centres (Chapter 4, s. 4.1). National museums become free year-round for under-25s.
• Events. Canada 160 gets $300 million in 2027-28 for a Canada 160 Fund, Heritage Minutes, the Trans Canada Trail and community spaces, with $15 million more for local festivals through the Canada Arts Presentation Fund (Chapter 4, s. 4.1). The 2028 Francophonie Summit brings up to 90 member states to the National Capital Region.
• Parks Canada assets. Parks Canada gets $3.6 billion over 10 years on a cash basis from 2027-28 for more than 20,000 assets at over 200 sites (Chapter 4, s. 4.1). Gateway communities depend on that infrastructure.
• Regional air. Concession proceeds would fund new routes and smaller-airport infrastructure, and the Airports Capital Assistance Program would open to smaller National Airports System airports (Chapter 1, s. 1.1). No proceeds arrive before an operator is chosen by early 2029.
• Ferries and rail. The Ferry Services Contribution Program is renewed until 2032 with $1.3 billion over eight years, including new terminals at Wood Islands and Caribou (Chapter 4, s. 4.2). VIA Rail gets $1.2 billion over three years from 2027-28.
• Seasonal owners. Self-employed owners whose main income is business income can make one instalment payment by December 31 from the 2028 taxation year (Chapter 6, s. 6.1). The budget cites owners who earn most of their income in summer.

Likely Government Intent

The air sector plan is the government's main tourism-adjacent policy. It says the new model will build "a more affordable, connected, and competitive air sector" and will bring investment without public money (Budget 2026: Masters of Our Destiny, Chapter 1, s. 1.1). Concession proceeds then fund regional routes. That makes regional air service depend on a transaction that has not happened.

Domestic travel sits in Chapter 4, "A strong and united Canada," beside museums and anniversaries. The government frames the pass and Canada 160 as nation-building and identity spending. Fiscal limits explain the one-year terms. The deficit is $62.3 billion in 2026-27 (Annex 1, Table A1.8), and one-year renewals keep CATSA and the pass out of the base. The budget's capital framework also favours Parks Canada assets, which count as capital investment, over operating money for visitor services.

Open Questions

1. Transport Canada. What will the airport fee rules cap, and when will the fee transparency legislation be tabled? The fee sits in every ticket sold to the four largest airports.
2. Transport Canada and CATSA. What funds screening in 2028-29? The cost table defers the decision, and summer 2028 bookings start before it is made.
3. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Destination Canada. What is Destination Canada's budget after the Budget 2025 cut, and will the convention fund continue after 2028-29? The budget does not mention either.
4. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. When does the eTA facial image requirement apply, and what will applicants pay? Visa-exempt markets are the industry's largest long-haul sources.
5. Finance, Tax Policy Branch. Do hotel buildings, ski-hill structures and resort facilities fall in the excluded long-lived buildings? The answer decides how much of the deduction a resort can use.

Key Dates

Suggested Message Frames

1. For government. The first Canada Strong Pass lifted Parks Canada visits by 13% and museum attendance by 15%. The $76 million renewal covers one summer, and operators plan on multi-year horizons.
2. For members. Hotels, ski hills and tour operators can write off beds, chairlifts, snow-making equipment and coach buses at once under the $36,055 million Productivity Mega Deduction.
3. For media. Airport security screening is funded for one year at $776 million. Travellers and airlines need to know what pays for it in 2028-29.

Opposition and Media Narratives to Anticipate

The Official Opposition will frame the budget around the $62.3 billion deficit and $60.2 billion in public debt charges (Annex 1, Table A1.8). It asked before tabling for fuel taxes to stay off. It will point to April 1, 2027 as a tax increase on travel and trucking. The NDP and some think tanks are likely to attack airport concessions as privatisation that raises fees. The Canadian Shield Institute made that case before the budget.

The Bloc Québécois is likely to welcome the Francophonie Summit and the cultural money. Provinces with national parks will watch the gap between Parks Canada capital and operating cuts. Travel writers and airline executives will ask why the visitor refund and passenger rule changes are absent when the dollar is forecast at 72.1 US cents in 2026, below the 73.7 cents assumed in the spring (Annex 1, Table A1.2). A weaker dollar helps inbound sales and keeps Canadians home, and the budget does not use it to market Canada abroad.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer is likely to note that one-year renewals understate the cost of programs the government intends to keep. CATSA and the pass are both examples.

Data Points to Monitor

• CATSA's 2028-29 funding decision and its screening wait-time reporting.
• Airport fee rules, the transparency bill and the ground rent formula change.
• The concession competition and the selection of the first operator by early 2029.
• The eTA facial image start date and any applicant fee.
• Parks Canada and museum attendance in summer 2027, the test of the pass renewal.
• The exchange rate, forecast at 72.1 US cents in 2026 and 72.4 cents in 2027, and oil prices (Annex 1, Table A1.2).
• Supplementary Estimates for Transport Canada, Parks Canada and Canadian Heritage, and the Spring Economic Update 2027.