City of Vaughan

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Municipal Accommodation Tax, set at 4.0 per cent, came into force and effect on April 1, 2019.
• Cumulative year-to-date room nights sold at the end of Q1 2026 was 119,230.
• The number of room nights sold in Q1 2026 was 8.0 per cent lower compared to last quarter (Q4 2025). This decrease is expected as visitor traffic decreases through the end of the Winter shoulder-season.
• Compared to the same quarter last year, room nights sold in Q1 2026 decreased by 4.9 per cent, currently at 119,230 compared to 125,364 reported in Q1 2025.
• Hotel occupancy rate in Q1 2026 was 68.2 per cent. This represents a decrease of 6.3 percentage points from the previous quarter.
• Year-over-year, hotel occupancy rate in Q1 2026 decreased by 3.3 per cent; currently at 68.2 per cent compared to 71.5 per cent reported in the same quarter from the prior year (Q1 2025).
• The city of Vaughan’s occupancy rate in March 2026 was 4.4 percentage points higher than the average across all hotels in York Region during the same month.
• Average Daily Rate for hotels in Vaughan in March 2026 was $188.57, which was $4.51 (or 2.3 per cent) lower than the overall average for all hotels in York Region during the same month.
• Revenue per Available Room for hotels in Vaughan in March 2026 was $142.24, which was $5.12 (or 3.7 per cent) higher than the overall average for all hotels in York Region during the same month.
• The Vaughan indicators for occupancy rate and revenue per available room are performing above the York Regional averages.

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BACKGROUND

The Tourism Vaughan Corporation is Vaughan’s destination marketing and development organization with the mission to develop and promote Vaughan as a tourist destination for leisure, sport and business visitors. To achieve these goals, the Tourism Vaughan Corporation’s plan and budget utilize 50 per cent of the revenues generated by the Vaughan Municipal Accommodation Tax pursuant to By-law 029-2019.

The Municipal Accommodation Tax, set at 4.0 per cent, came into force and effect on April 1, 2019.

The city of Vaughan’s Municipal Accommodation Tax remitters include 16 hotel and motel operators, and over 50 short-term rental operators. Municipal Accommodation Tax remitters in Vaughan submit their collections data to the City monthly or quarterly. The projection for 2026 year-end Municipal Accommodation Tax collection is $4,274,000 and is based off prior year actual collections and industry trends analysis prepared by CBRE Valuation & Advisory Services with a slight adjustment based on actual historical trending in 2024 and 2025.

Data on local and regional hotel room nights sold, occupancy rates, revenue, average daily rate, and revenue per available room are provided by Central Counties Tourism who compiles data from STR Inc., a global leader in hospitality data and analytics. Central Counties Tourism works to develop and market the regions of York, Durham, and Headwaters as a visitor destination. The data provided helps Tourism Vaughan Corporation generate insights about Vaughan’s overnight stay market performance, trends and to benchmark against Regional averages.

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ANALYSIS

• Cumulative year-to-date room nights sold at the end of Q1 2026 was 119,230.
• The number of room nights sold in Q1 2026 was 8.0 per cent lower compared to last quarter (Q4 2025). This decrease is expected as visitor traffic decreases through the end of the Winter shoulder-season.
• Compared to the same quarter last year, room nights sold in Q1 2026 decreased by 4.9 per cent, currently at 119,230 compared to 125,364 reported in Q1 2025.
• Hotel occupancy rate in Q1 2026 was 68.2 per cent. This represents a decrease of 6.3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter.
• Year-over-year, hotel occupancy rate in Q1 2026 decreased by 3.3 per cent; currently at 68.2 per cent compared to 71.5 per cent reported in the same quarter from the prior year (Q1 2025).
• The city of Vaughan’s hotel occupancy rate in March 2026 was 4.4 percentage points higher than the average across all hotels in York Region during the same month.

• Average daily rate for hotels in Vaughan in March 2026 was $188.57. This is $7.58 higher than the $180.99 rate in the same month from the prior year (March 2025).
• Average daily rate for hotels in Vaughan in March 2026 was $4.51 (or 2.3 per cent) lower than the overall average across all hotels in York Region during the same month.
• Revenue per available room for hotels in Vaughan in March 2026 was $142.24. This was $0.11 lower than the $142.35 revenue per available room in the same month from the prior year (March 2025).
• Revenue per available room for hotels in Vaughan in March 2026 was $5.12 (or 3.7 per cent) higher than the overall average across all hotels in York Region during the same month.
• The Vaughan indicators for occupancy rate and revenue per available room are performing above the York Regional averages.

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NEXT STEPS

Tourism Vaughan will continue to monitor and report on trends in room nights sold, Municipal Accommodation Tax remittances, occupancy rates, average daily rate, and revenue per available room on a quarterly basis in order to assess progress of actual collections against budget and to compare trends observed in occupancy and overnight visitor data as a measure of the health of the visitor economy. Communications, Marketing and Engagement will be employing its channels to help share this news.