What a Canadian-made standard means for accommodations and tour operators pursuing GSTC Certification
On July 7, 2026, GreenStep became the first North American organization to make Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Certification available against a Canadian-made, GSTC-Recognized Standard. Independent audits are conducted by GreenStep’s GSTC-Accredited Certification Body partner, RoyalCert, operating in more than 40 countries.
GSTC Certification is becoming a procurement requirement for major booking platforms, corporate travel managers and cruise lines worldwide. Until now, Canadian and North American tourism businesses have had to work through standards and with certification bodies based elsewhere, without regional support or criteria built for this market.
How GreenStep developed a Canada-made standard
The GreenStep Sustainable Tourism Standard was originally developed in 2018, using the GSTC Criteria as the foundation in order to ensure alignment with globally recognized best practices and to enable GSTC-Recognition. At that time, GreenStep invited and engaged a broad range of Canadian tourism businesses, destinations, industry associations, NGOs, and indigenous tourism associations, to provide input and feedback on our draft standard. In this way, we were able to ensure that our criteria and indicators reflected the real gaps and opportunities that Canadian tourism businesses face when pursuing environmental, social and cultural sustainability in their operations.
As a Canadian-based Standard Owner GreenStep understands the regulatory environment, the funding landscape, and the market conditions that tourism businesses here are actually navigating, and can provide pre and post certification support to help tourism businesses continue to improve their sustainability performance. At the same time, a business certified against the GreenStep Standard receives the same globally recognized GSTC credential as a business certified anywhere else in the world.
Algorithmic preference on OTAs and procurement policies are now a business case for certification
Online travel agencies now account for roughly 55 percent of the global travel booking market. Booking.com and Trip.com are both recognized GSTC Market Access Program partners, using certification status as a factor in how they rank and feature properties, a practice known as algorithmic preference. A certified property does not simply get a badge on its listing. It gets boosted visibility in search results and feature placement that non-certified properties do not.
Corporate travel buyers are applying the same logic from a different direction. American Express Global Business Travel set a target of 25 percent GSTC-certified hotel bookings by 2025 and was on track to meet or surpass it.
Royal Caribbean Group has set a goal of certifying 60 percent of its global shore excursion tours to GSTC standards by 2026, and requires the tour operators it works with directly to hold GSTC Certification to remain part of its sustainable excursions program. MSC Cruises follows a similar preferential buying model for its shore excursion suppliers.
Verified claims are becoming a requirement
In Canada, the Competition Act was amended in 2024 through Bill C-59 to explicitly address greenwashing, prohibiting environmental claims about a business or its activities that are not based on adequate and proper substantiation, with the onus on the business making the claim to prove that substantiation if challenged. Serious financial and reputation impacts can arise from non-compliance.
In the EU, Directive 2024/825, the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive, applies from September 27, 2026. It prohibits generic sustainability claims unless they are substantiated, and requires that any sustainability label used to market to EU consumers be verified through a recognized certification scheme or public body. A Canadian operator marketing to European travellers, listed on a platform that serves EU consumers, or working with European outbound tour operators, will be in scope for that law when it takes effect. The claims on their website and OTA listings are what the directive applies to, not just the claims of businesses based in Europe.
The common thread across both is that a stated claim is not the same as a verified one. For a Canadian tourism business, the practical question is whether the evidence behind your sustainability claims would hold up to scrutiny from a regulator, a procurement team, or a platform algorithm. GSTC Certification answers that question with confidence and credibility.
What this means for the businesses we work with
None of this calls for immediate changes to what sustainable tourism actually requires of a business day to day. What has changed is who is asking for proof of it, and how directly that proof now affects whether a property gets booked, included in a tour roster, or kept on the right side of regulation. A Canadian-made, GSTC-Recognized Standard means that proof is now available through an organization with a local team that understands the realities of operating here, with third-party audits conducted by an internationally accredited certification body, and a credential recognized everywhere it travels.
Tourism businesses previously certified under our Sustainable Tourism standard will maintain their certification status until their next renewal date, and can then choose to either recertify under the GSTC Certification or to pursue the GreenStep Sustainable Tourism Pathway.
Tourism businesses interested in GSTC Certification or the GreenStep Sustainable Tourism Pathway can get in touch with our team to learn more.
