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Impact & Reach

Resilience. Capacity. Collaboration.

The tourism sector is remarkably diverse, comprising five distinct but related industry groups: accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation, and travel services.

Although its widespread nature contributes to its undeniably strong impact on the economy and culture, it also presents unique challenges regarding workplace standards and best practices. The need is great for a unifying body to create Best-In-Class industry employment standards, attract and retain talent to the sector and strengthen opportunities for vulnerable populations.

That’s why OTEC and our partners created the Tourism SkillsNet Ontario (TSNO) alliance in 2018 to align provincial workforce strategy with local collaboration around industry-specific regional labour challenges. TSNO builds capacity across the alliance by increasing the resilience and competitiveness of Ontario’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry.

TSNO brings a wide range of sector stakeholders together with the shared goal of driving innovative workforce development solutions – including employers, industry associations, regional tourism organizations, unions, Indigenous organizations, community employment service providers, training/educational institutions, municipalities, community workforce development organizations and leaders in up-skilling, re-skilling and HR practices.

TSNO consists of a Provincial Advisory Council and 18 Regional Working Groups, Membership includes 230+ organizations, covering over 108 unique postal code regions across Ontario.

320

TSNO members

2018

TSNO active since

230+

Organizations

21

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

19

Representing organizations

28

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

22

Representing organizations

20

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

19

Representing organizations

13

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

12

Representing organizations

19

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

19

Representing organizations

21

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

20

Representing organizations

27

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

23

Representing organizations

24

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

19

Representing organizations

13

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

11

Representing organizations

16

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

15

Representing organizations

28

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

19

Representing organizations

17

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

16

Representing organizations

21

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

17

Representing organizations

20

Regional groups members

2018

Active since

17

Representing organizations

25

Regional groups members

2020

Active since

23

Representing organizations

-

Regional groups members

--

Active since

-

Representing organizations

12

Regional groups members

2022

Active since

9

Representing organizations

6

Regional groups members

2022

Active since

6

Representing organizations
The TSNO alliance delivers impact at both the provincial level (through a provincial council) and at the local tourism destination level (through regional working groups), collectively creating out-of-the-box workforce development solutions.

TSNO’s four strategic priorities are critical to employers and other stakeholders in addressing the tourism sector’s specific labour and skills shortage and enhancing the effectiveness and competitiveness of businesses in the tourism industry:

  1. Foster a shared vision – an environment of focused collaboration and coordination
  2. Develop a skilled, nimble and reliable talent pipeline for employers
  3. Secure opportunities for jobseekers aiming to build transferrable skills and experience
  4. Increase job seeker’s interest in tourism roles by enhancing the sector’s image and illustrating the range of career options