The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is operating with a skeleton crew after federal funding dropped sharply and a promised CAD245mn ($178mn) commitment from a UK-based charity failed to materialise, chief executive Keith Henry told APTN News, reported on April 22.
ITAC, which markets and financially supports Indigenous tourism businesses across Canada through accreditation, grants and membership services, received nearly CAD20mn in pandemic-era federal funding but has seen investment fall steeply since. Federal contributions dropped from CAD12.8mn in 2023-2024 to CAD6.9mn in 2024-2025 and CAD3.8mn in 2025-2026, against a budget request of CAD32.5mn for each of those years.
In July 2025, Henry announced a seven-year financial commitment from the UK-based Passion Project Foundation worth CAD245mn. The money was intended to rebuild the Indigenous tourism sector to pre-2018 levels. Henry said ITAC remains in daily contact with the foundation but the funds have not arrived and he does not know when they will.
The cash shortage has left participants at ITAC’s International Indigenous Tourism Conference in Edmonton in February waiting months for payment. The event, organised with Indigenous Tourism Alberta and Explore Edmonton, featured cultural workshops, vendor tables and 19 Indigenous-led tourism experiences, with tickets priced at CAD1,925 per person.
Indigenous artists, performers, Elders, freelance writers and business operators who took part said they received no payment for weeks after the event. Nathan Rainy Chief, co-founder of Edmonton-based Indigenous clothing company 49 Design, organised three sold-out tourism experiences for the conference and said his business had not been reimbursed. After repeated inquiries went unanswered, 49 Design launched a social media campaign calling for accountability.
“The community showed up for tourism, now tourism needs to show up for the community,” Rainy Chief said, APTN reported.
Eight participants were paid during the week of April 13, nearly two months after the conference. At least one was paid by Indigenous Tourism Alberta rather than ITAC.
Henry said he aimed to have all conference participants paid by the end of April. “I’m so worried that I don’t want to hurt ITAC in the long run. I hope people will be patient with us as we work our way through this,” he said.
ITAC’s most recent annual report does not include a financial audit. Henry said it had to be reworked after the Passion Project funds did not come through. The organisation’s last published audit, for 2023-2024, showed just over CAD4mn in net assets and CAD3.9mn in liabilities.
Tracy Ridler, chief executive of Centre for Native Nation Builders and a member of Kitsumkalum First Nation, said she contacted Henry on behalf of unpaid participants. “Everybody wants to rent a feather and put us on display, but then when the actual payment or fair treatment or respect comes, it’s just not there,” she said, APTN reported.