2022 performance
Overall, Canada’s hotel market experienced year-over-year increases of 69% in Occupancy, 37% in ADR and 131% in RevPAR as of July 2022 – all great testaments to the health of the sector. Cautious optimism reigns when comparing 2022 with 2019 (pre-COVID-19) figures, as Canada is still below the 2019 benchmark – down 13% in Occupancy and 9% in RevPAR – but up 5% in ADR. Furthermore, a look at national Occupancy for the last four years (2019 to 2022) reveals that July 2022 surpassed the performance achieved in July 2019 (75.5% vs. 75.3%).
Canada percentage change in Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR (2022 vs 2019 and 2022 vs 2021)
Canada Occupancy Rate (Jan 2019 - July 2022)
Hotel performance by market
According to STR’s performance metrics, Canada’s hotel market bounced back during the first seven months of 2022 – nearly returning to 2019 levels. Among the country’s six major markets, Vancouver performed the strongest in ADR, Occupancy and RevPAR with $226.84, 68.7% and $155.86, respectively. Edmonton posted the lowest metrics with $125.40 ADR, 49.6% Occupancy and $62.23 RevPAR – however, these represented a significant improvement year-over-year (up 74% in Occupancy, 28% in ADR and 123% in RevPAR). While comparing to YTD July 2022 Vs YTD July 2019 YTD metrics it is clear that Montreal and Ottawa have had the most challenging recovery in occupancy and RevPAR. While Calgary has been the most resilient market with a dip of only 5.9% in occupancy and 4.1% in RevPAR. Montreal has bounced back in 2022 from 2021 however by experiencing the largest percentage change in Occupancy and RevPAR, with 132% and 234%, respectively, while Toronto posted the highest percentage change in ADR with 61% year-over-year.
Occupancy and RevPAR by market (YTD July 2019/2021/2022)
Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR by market (% change YTD July 2019 vs YTD July 2022)
Hotel performance by class
By asset type, Upper Midscale reported the highest Occupancy as of July 2022, with 60.9%, while Luxury was lowest at 52.1%. However, the Luxury class had the strongest ADR and RevPAR ($372.15 and $194.06, respectively) – in contrast with the Economy class, which posted the lowest ADR and RevPAR ($113.84 and $60.25, respectively). Year-over-year, Luxury experienced the largest bounce-back in Occupancy (up 147%) and RevPAR (up 208%), while Upscale had the strongest growth in ADR (36.4%). However, Luxury and Upper Upscale hotels have still struggled to return to occupancy and RevPAR levels experienced in 2019. Luxury has experienced the largest decrease in occupancy of 22.6%, while Upper Upscale has experienced the largest decrease in RevPAR of 16.1%.The steadiest asset class compared with pre-COVID-19 data is Economy, with RevPAR growth of 7.3% from July 2019 to July 2022 – highlighting the resilience of Economy-class branded hotels throughout the pandemic.
Occupancy and RevPAR by class (YTD July 2019/2021/2022)
Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR by class (% change YTD July 2019 vs YTD July 2022)
Hotel performance by location
Leisure travel has had the most profound impact on hotel market results. As of YTD July, Airport hotels have had the strongest occupancy of 64.9%. During the month of July 2022, airport hotels had 82% occupancy and resort hotels had 76% occupancy. As of YTD July, airport hotels have had the strongest occupancy of 64.9%. Comparing YTD July 2022 to YTD July 2019 Urban located hotels have had the most difficult time returning to the performance metrics experienced in 2019, with a decline of 17.71% in occupancy and 13.53% in RevPAR. This should come as no surprise as many people have been putting off travel plans over the course of COVID-19 and want to make up for lost vacation time. Airports across the globe are having difficulty with staffing levels and, as a result, are struggling to keep up with the boom in travel demand – and Canadian airports are not exempt from this reality. The Government of Canada has reported that, in June 2022, air departure traffic was 58 times higher than in spring 2020. The silver lining of airport delays is that they are evidence of demand for travel and hospitality across the globe. The ongoing popularity of domestic travel may be a factor in the performance of the Small Metro/Town hotel location category, which has outstripped its 2019 13.8% in RevPAR.
Occupancy and RevPAR by location (YTD July 2019/2021/2022)
Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR by location (% change YTD July 2019 vs YTD July 2022)
Occupancy comparison summary (YTD July 2019, 2021 & 2022)
Get more market information
Curtis Gallagher* Principal Canadian Hospitality Lead +1 416.673.4018 curtis.gallagher@avisonyoung.com
Jolene Keats Director Eastern Canada Hospitality +1 902 579 1245 jolene.keats@avisonyoung.com
Haig Basmadjian Senior Associate Western Canada Hospitality +1 403.232.4316 haig.basmadjian@avisonyoung.com
Bobby Singh* Associate Eastern Canada Hospitality +1 905.283.2326 bobby.singh@avisonyoung.com
Graeme White* Associate Eastern Canada Hospitality +1 647.598.2318 graeme.white@avisonyoung.com
*Sales Representative
© 2022 Avison Young Commercial Real Estate Services, LP, Brokerage. All rights reserved. E. & O.E.: Some of the data in this report has been gathered from third-party sources and has not been independently verified by Avison Young. Avison Young makes no warranties or representations as to the completeness or accuracy thereof. Investment sales and hotel market data sourced from Avison Young, Altus Data Studio and STR.