The multimillion-dollar International Convention Attraction Fund (ICAF), launched in March 2024 by Destination Canada, has supported 21 successful bids made by Canadian Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) to host high-value major international conferences.
Created and administered by Destination Canada, and funded by the Government of Canada, the ICAF is a vital component of Destination Canada’s strategy to establish Canada as a leading destination for hosting business events. This is especially important as many Canadian destinations have yet to meet the business-events activity level seen before the pandemic. Because booking decisions for business events are made between two and ten years before a conference takes place, this program is essential to secure future editions of these conferences and to recover booking pace.
The three-year program offers financial commitments of up to $1 million per event bid by eligible Canadian destinations, and is part of an overall investment of $50 million from budget 2023 for the attraction of major international conferences to Canada.
Since its launch earlier this year, the ICAF has received a lot of applications for events across the country, and now stands at 21 confirmed conference wins.
These won events are expected to:
- attract over 51,000 overnight delegates to Canada;
- lead to an anticipated direct economic impact of over $122 million;
- there are currently 30 additional event bids awaiting decisions by event owners.
Canadian cities including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Quebec City, Victoria, Calgary, Ottawa, and St. John’s have successfully secured several prestigious events of different sizes, reinforcing their status as premier destinations for hosting international business events.
Business events are an important part of the tourism industry for Canada with approximately $47 billion in direct economic impact for Canada and supporting more than 240,000 jobs.
“Competition for international events is fierce – and Canada is winning! Thanks to our historic investments through the International Convention Attraction Fund, we’ve already landed 21 major conferences. These events showcase the best of our country to some 51,000 overnight delegates from around the world – who spend twice as much as leisure travellers – while creating opportunities for our businesses,” said Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada.
