Tourism SkillsNet Ontario (TSNO) is an alliance for collaboration, communication, and coordination, focused on tourism and hospitality workforce development and programming at a local level.

Led by OTEC, TSNO connects over 300 members from public, private and nonprofit organizations, including businesses, educational institutions, municipalities, employment service providers, destination marketing organizations and regional tourism organizations.

TSNO members map strategies to tackle key workforce development challenges, such as talent acquisition, retention and skills gaps, and advise on provincial advocacy efforts to maximize the inclusive economic potential of this sector at local and provincial levels. Through TSNO, members are uniquely positioned to give visibility to local issues, provide input into training curriculum and future initiatives, and harness cross-sector collaboration opportunities.

TSNO delivers impact at both the provincial level (through a provincial advisory council) and at the local tourism destination level (through regional working groups). TSNO builds capacity across the alliance by unleashing powerful workforce tools, analytics and industry partnerships to strengthen our sector’s agility and competitiveness in an ever-changing world.

Skills and labour challenges are among the most pressing issues faced by the tourism and hospitality industry. Attraction & retention of staff are key issues faced by many employers. To address this issue, OTEC directs tourism and hospitality workforce development efforts across the province. Tourism SkillsNet Ontario (TSNO) leverages provincial collaboration and investment to tackle skills, labour and strategic challenges at the local level, offering customized solutions to address these challenges and to build an empowered, resilient and thriving industry.

TSNO was formed in late 2018 in response to an increasingly chronic shortage of workers in tourism and hospitality. Business owners and employers in the tourism, hospitality and food service sectors cite labour and skills shortage as a critical inhibitor of growth.

Collectively, stakeholders recognized the need for innovative strategies to respond to the lack of skilled workers and the importance of recruiting, training, upskilling, reskilling and retention.

TSNO enables its members to develop collaborative strategies at the local/destination level, aligning recruitment and training with the sector-specific skills businesses need most.

The long-term goal of TSNO is to support the tourism and hospitality sector to solve provincial labour market challenges by increasing the capacity of members to anticipate, plan for and adapt to fluctuations and shocks, creating a more resilient sector.

TSNO has four strategic priorities:

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

OTEC leads Tourism SkillsNet Ontario (TSNO) and it is funded through industry partners, government grants and initiatives.

OTEC (Ontario Tourism Education Corporation) is Ontario’s leader in workforce innovation for the tourism and hospitality industry.

OTEC is an independent, not-for-profit training, consulting, and workforce development organization that delivers innovative, high-quality solutions for the development and growth of a professional, skilled workforce. OTEC provides a diverse portfolio of customized, sector-specific workforce solutions designed to ensure organizations achieve the highest standards of service and performance objectives – including customer service and leadership training, upskilling and reskilling, professional certifications, HR technology, and consulting services for a wide range of businesses and destinations. Skills and labour challenges are among the most pressing issues faced by the tourism and hospitality industry. To address this, OTEC directs tourism and hospitality workforce development efforts across the province in its capacity as the founder and chair of Tourism SkillsNet Ontario (TSNO).

The alliance currently focuses its activities through Regional Working Groups in Brantford & the County of Brant, Hamilton/Halton, London, Muskoka, Niagara, Toronto, Windsor Essex County, Kawarthas/Northumberland/County of Peterborough, Kingston, Ottawa, Leeds/Grenville/Brockville/Cornwall, Quinte West/Belleville/Prince Edward County, RTO11, Greater Sudbury & Manitoulin District, North Bay, Thunder Bay, Timmins and Waterloo/Wellington/Huron/Perth Counties.

The tourism sector is comprised of five distinct but related industry groups: accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation and travel services.  Businesses of any size – from “mom and pop” businesses to large scale establishments within any of the five related industry groups are eligible to join TSNO.

To join an existing TSNO region, simply visit the JOIN page and select the "Regional Working Group" category and complete the form.

If you do not see your region listed, it means that we are not currently active in your area however we would love to connect with you and discuss how we may be able to support your workforce development needs. Please feel free to reach out to us anytime at info@tourismskillsnet.org.

There is currently no cost to join the TSNO Alliance.

• Build collaborative partnerships between industry and the workforce development system
• Supports attraction, retention and advancement of tourism and hospitality workers
• Leverage data and technology to help businesses, destinations and workers navigate the labour market with intelligence
• Learn about skills training and resources currently being offered in your community
• Leverage data and evidence to support targeted investments and consistent communications across the network
• Provides economies of scale to businesses, destinations and training partners pursuing data, training and technology infrastructure to support their workforce development goals
• Provides a framework for local strategic workforce planning and the support required for effective implementation
• 10% discount off OTEC e-learning training *(any and all discounts are applied at the discretion of OTEC)