Canadians spend far more money traveling to other countries than foreign visitors spend visiting Canada and this has long irked government.
Canada is a big time loser when it comes to tourism. Every dollar you spend in Cancun, Old Orchard Beach and New York City is a dollar lost to Canada's economy, escaping the government GST/PST tax grab. The money foreign tourists spend in Canada comes nowhere close to replacing that lost revenue.
Canada's travel deficit ballooned in recent years to $17 billions at last count, as Canadians spent $37.5 billion abroad while foreigners visiting Canada spent $20.5 billion in 2015, the last time anybody reported on it. Canada's mainstream media would report on the travel deficit once every few years but data is now scarce and Statscan does not have it listed on its site.
Quebec alone had a fast-growing tourism deficit of $3 billion per year in 2012 and it's safe to assume that it grew considerably until elected officials manufactured new rules based on covid fear, which banned or discouraged - and even shamed - Canadians from leaving Canada and spending their money elsewhere.
Even after the biggest covid panic ended, the Trudeau regime issued an order in late 2021 advising Canadians to "avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada." The recommendation was sparked by the rise of the omicron covid variant, which is considerably milder than its predecessors and does not enter lung tissues. Foreign governments overwhelmingly recognize omicron as a reason to end restrictions but Canada's federal government used it to increase covid mandates.
The same Trudeau regime now has legislation in the works to control how Canadians use the internet, which could also employed used to discourage Canadians away from being tempted into trips outside of the country.
Statscan reports that spending by foreigners within Canada diminished from between 67 percent to 75 percent between 2020 to 2022. Statscan does not report how much Canadians spent abroad in 2022 but it's clearly only a tiny fraction of what they would have spent if free to travel as they wished.
Tourism to Canada diminished greatly after 2009 when Americans were required to show a passport upon arriving in Canada. Quebec alone lost 900,000 annual tourism visits between 2005 and 2015.