FAQs

Tourism is defined as all activities that people engage in when travelling outside their usual environment for any purpose. For the purpose of this tool, a visitor is someone who takes an overnight out-of-town trip or an out-of-town same-day trip of 40 kilometres or more away from his/her home for purposes other than commuting to work or school, being on a diplomatic mission, going shopping as part of a regular activity, and going to regular appointments for doctors or religious ceremonies. For international visitors, it also excludes students who stay in Canada for 75 or more nights.

A MAT is a mandatory municipal tax paid on roofed accommodations; travelers must pay the amount that is stipulated by the municipality. Many municipalities in Ontario have implemented a MAT to date, and the majority is implementing a 4% MAT.

Ontario Regulation 435/17 requires a 50/50 revenue sharing between a municipality and an Eligible Tourism Entity, which is defined in Ontario Regulation 435/17 as a non-profit entity whose mandate includes the promotion of tourism in Ontario or a municipality. Brantford does not currently have any eligible tourism entity as mandated by Ontario Regulation 435/17.

A municipal services corporation (MSC) operates independently from the municipality with a separate bank account. The advantages of the City of establishing the Corporation include: 

1. Satisfying the Province’s requirement for a non-profit tourism organization to serve as an Eligible Tourism Entity that utilizes a minimum of 50% of the MAT revenues; 
2. Adopting a MSC model, which provides accountability, corporate responsibility and reasonable controls through the role of the voting members; and 
3. Ensuring City Council, as sole voting member, will be responsible for selecting and electing the Board of Directors (which will include Council representatives) that establish the governance framework for business plans, expenditures and Corporate policies. 

The benefits of establishing a MSC extend beyond that of tourism development. MSCs often conduct business in a manner that meets the private sector requirement of timely, efficient and effective decision making. Once established, the MSC can also carry out a variety of other revenue-generating activities, provide the municipality with increased debt financing capacity and contain the risks associated with the activities within the corporation.

Based on the results from in-person consultation with all 7 hotels in Brantford, taking into consideration their average room rate and % occupancy rate calculations, a proposed 4% MAT collected from the hotels alone would total estimated revenue of $824 thousand annually. The City transfers the Corporation a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the annual collected MAT revenue (less the City’s reasonable costs of collecting and administering the MAT that are attributable to each fiscal year).