1. RUNNING HEAD: ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA
Assignment #2 - Impact & Multipliers
Amy Hetherman & Kyle Blohm
Georgian College
Event Management
HSPM 3001
Debra Bobchenko
February 17th, 2016

2. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA 1
Critical Analysis of the Case Study (NAGA 2014 Economic Impact of Golf in Canada)
This study was a nation-wide survey conducted by NAGA (National Allied Golf
Associations) of nearly 15,000 golfers and over 300 golf courses in ten provinces and three
territories. The goal of this study was to determine the economic impact of the golf industry in
Canada. The study was conducted by SNG Solutions Inc. in 2009. The evidence provided in the
study was updated in 2014. The results of the study demonstrate the role the golf industry plays
within Canada in terms of its contribution the GDP in Canada as well as other spin-off economic
impacts (things such as jobs and income at the national, provincial and territorial scales).
The study was able to determine that the golf industry in Canada is the cause of $19.7
billion in direct spending. Based on the induced, direct, indirect impacts account for $14.3 billion
of Canada’s GDP in 2013. This is an increase of $2.1 billion from 2012. The other notable
contributions include but are not limited to: 300,000 + jobs, $8.3 billion in household spending,
$1.4 billion in property and other indirect taxes, $2.2 billion in federal and provincial income
taxes. Golf in Canada is responsible for generating a total of $36.8 billion in total gross
production.
On top of these economic contributions the golf industry has on Canada’s economy it also allows
an opportunity for the following, environmental benefits, participation in sport, charitable
activities, and a boost to tourism.
In summary of this article it is clear to see that the golf industry in Canada plays a major role on
the economy within provinces and across the entire country. Ontario leads the way generating
approximately $5.4 billion towards Ontario’s GDP. This is most by any individual province by a
large margin.

3. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA 2
Golf has at least a minimalistic impact on every province and territory in Canada. In
2014, as part of their Economic Impact of Golf in Canada Study, SNG Solutions, Inc. for the
National Allied Golf Associations identified the basic percentage of economic impact that golf
has on the individual provinces and territories. The percentages range from 37.9% impact in
Ontario, to 0.1% of impact in the Yukon Territory, (SNG Solutions, Inc., 2014, p. 8).
Specifically, to look at British Columbia, the report states some key important points. For
example; “golf contributes an estimated $2.08 billion towards their GDP… [,] 44,000 jobs… [,]
$1.27 billion in household income… [,] $167 million in property and other indirect taxes… [,]
and about 298 million in federal and provincial income taxes…” (SNG Solutions, Inc., 2014, p.
12).
The golf industry has an impact on many different aspects of the country and province. A
prime example is how they impact the social aspect of the country. When the PGA of British
Columbia hosts their events throughout the year they are able to bring together more people and
gather as a community and make it more enjoyable for a group and make it more of a social
event for the people of the communities that surround it. This can help the province come
together and make the event a big success. That being said these large events are sometimes a
bad side since the crowds can cause a big problem for the event organizers and even the
community surrounding the event.
The environmental impacts of golf in British Columbia is just as big as it is in any other
province. Golf is typically one of the largest suppliers of bad environmental practices. Therefore,
having golf in anyone’s province has no guaranteed way to help or hinder said province.
Finally, the tourism impacts of having golf in BC is the largest impact they can have. BC
has one of the largest number of golf course populations in the country. With a multitude of golf

4. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA 3
courses and golf resorts they are able to utilize their success to the provinces advantage. Overall
the province is able to use golf as a tourist draw, especially during the winter, when the rest of
the country is covered in snow and BC has better weather.
The large golfing event that I am choosing to focus on is the Toronto Golf show. The
Toronto Golf show is held once a year to promote anything golf related. It features many top
courses, and companies within the golf industry. An event such as the Toronto Golf show will
generate a substantial amount of money for the local economy. This money will make more
money and this is known as the multiplier effect. The multiplier effect is also commonly referred
to as the ripple effect. The multiplier/ripple effect is the new money that is being injected into a
local economy from outside sources. The outside sources are the exhibitors presenting at the
event as well as the people attending the event that are from out of town. The Toronto Golf show
brings in people from all over the world. In doing so these individuals that are here for the show
need a place to stay (most likely a hotel), and they also have to eat (whether it be fast food or
from the local grocery store). In fact, the event website actually lists a potential set of
accommodations. (Toronto Golf Show, 2016) The money they are using on these things was
brought with them from wherever they are from. Once it is spent the money stays within the
economy in which it was spent in. In this case Toronto receives a boost from hosting this event.
This also will extend to other types retail stores as tourists and those visiting for the event may
potentially go shopping and purchase things which will also add money into the Toronto
economy.
The money that is injected into the economy could potentially have a compounding
effect. What I mean by this is the money that is spent will put more money into someone else’s
pocket, thus that individual may respond by going out spending what they had recently earned

5. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA 4
and some additional funds of their own as well. Money makes more money is what I am trying to
say. Another scenario I can think of as an example of this would be money that is being spent at
a store such as a Golf Town. With many golf enthusiasts in the area, especially those that don’t
have permanent residence in Toronto a retail store such as Golf Town is likely to see a boost in
sales. That money is reinvested into more product which will also generate additional revenue
for their company; that revenue is used for things such as paying the staff, rent/lease, taxes etc.
The staff will more than likely respond by spending some if not all of their paycheck and
reinvesting it back into the economy. The companies golf town buys their products from will
also get their hands on some of this money. These are the further ripples in the chain of events.
To my count there is currently 191 listed “exhibitors” (Toronto Golf Show, 2016). These
exhibitors will not be attending the event on their own; my guess would be that each exhibitor
listed is likely to have a minimum of three people (some will have more, some less, this is an
average estimate). This would mean exhibitors alone will account for 573 people in Toronto for
this event. However we also cannot assume all of these people are coming from outside of
Toronto. I would ballpark about 50 percent are from out of town. That is approximately 260 to
280 individuals that will be adding money into our economy that would not be doing so without
the event. Keep in mind this is only the exhibitors, there will be many other people attending the
show as well. The number of people is attending as guests is unknown at this point and is subject
to fluctuate from year to year for a variety of reasons. The venue hosting this event will also be
generating additional revenues. Besides the initial fee paid to host the event at its current
location, one can safely assume revenues will also be made off of food and drink, perhaps
parking as well at the minimum.

6. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA 5
Eventually some of the money generated/injected into our economy will “leak” out of the
local economy and into another economy. This is known as “leakage”. The good news about
leakage is that there is also potential for money to be leaked into our economy as well.

7. ECONOMIC IMPACT OF GOLF FOR CANADA 6
References
Exhibitors. (2016). Retrieved February 17, 2016, from
http://www.torontogolfshow.com/exhibitors?filter_condition=
Information for Exhibitors. (2016). Retrieved February 17, 2016, from
http://www.torontogolfshow.com/exhibitor-resources
Schedule. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2016, from http://www.pgabc.org/tournaments-and-
events/schedule/2016
SNG Solutions, Inc. (2014, May). NAGA - Key Findings Report - Economic Impact of Golf in
Canada. Retrieved from http://canadagolfs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SNG-Golf-
2014-Key-Findings-FINAL-Report-JUNE-2_ENG_Rev0918.pdf