Competing for Capital: Why Canada Must Act Now to Secure Hotel Investment

Hotels Canada released Competing for Capital: Why Canada Must Act Now to Secure Hotel Investment, a new report highlighting Canada’s growing competitiveness challenge in attracting hotel investment and outlining four federal policy reforms to address it.

The report finds that while investor confidence in Canada’s hotel sector is positive, stronger returns in the U.S. are competing for investors’ capital. In Canada, investment is being directed toward acquisitions and renovations rather than new development. Investors are more than twice as likely to pursue existing assets than build new hotels, reflecting the growing challenge of delivering competitive returns on new projects in Canada despite strong tourism fundamentals.

The report underscores a simple reality: capital is not patriotic. Investors will deploy capital where they can achieve the strongest returns, meaning Canada must increasingly compete not only for foreign investment, but also for its own domestic capital.