Canada hotels record first occupancy decline in nine months

WASHINGTON – Canada’s hotel industry recorded its first month-over-month occupancy decline since January 2024, according to CoStar’s September 2024 data. CoStar is a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the property markets.

September 2024 (percentage change from 2023):

• Occupancy: 74.0% (-1.8%)
• Average daily rate (ADR): CAD227.99 (+2.6%)
• Revenue per available room (RevPAR): CAD168.69 (+0.8%)

Declines in both group and transient demand resulted in softer occupancy across Canada hotels. 

While the Yom Kippur calendar shift added additional business travel during September, there was one less weekend in the month this year, which may have counterbalanced that added segmented demand, as weekends tend to have higher occupancy than weekdays. While group contractions have been common this year, transient demand dipped for the first time since February 2024. Rates in the segment, however, grew marginally, while group rates rose 7%.

Looking at classes, luxury continues to achieve higher occupancy growth, while lower-end hotels have contributed to the overall decline in the metric. This follows the bifurcation trend seen this year and indicates that those with strong disposable income continue to spend money on discretionary items. Laura Baxter, CoStar Group’s director of hospitality analytics for Canada

Among the provinces and territories, Nova Scotia recorded the highest occupancy level (82.4%), which was 1.7% above 2023.

Among the major markets, Vancouver saw the highest occupancy (84.9%), down 1.9% over September 2023.

The lowest occupancy among provinces was reported in Saskatchewan (62.4%), down 2.0% against 2023.

At the market level, the lowest occupancy was reported in Edmonton (-8.7% to 58.1%).

Of note, Forward STAR data shows the impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Canada, with hotel occupancy on the books as high as 60.5% in Toronto and 67.6% in Downtown Toronto (November). In Vancouver, bookings are as high as 78.4%, while the metric in Downtown Vancouver
is as high as 82.9% (December).

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Additional Performance Data: CoStar’s world-leading hotel performance sample comprises 85,000 properties and 11 million rooms around the globe. Members of the media should refer to the contacts listed below for additional data requests.

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