Blog
Canadian Immigrants and COVID-19 Employment Impacts
In recent years, labour force growth in Canada has been driven by international immigration and older Canadian-born workers staying in the workforce longer. By 2031, an estimated 80% of Canada’s labour force growth will come from immigration as larger, older cohorts of Canadians retire and fertility levels remain below the rate of replacement. Although immigrant…Read More
Key Measures of Economic Recovery: Employment and Hours Worked
In monitoring the economic recovery as pandemic restrictions lift, it is important to look at several labour market indicators. Average hours worked is one of those key indicators. Between February and April 2020, both employment and average hours worked fell by 15%. In June, the average hours worked rose by 7% (up 2 hours per…Read More
Impacts of COVID-19 on Women Working Part-Time
The COVID-19 shutdown has resulted in massive job losses, hitting some sectors worse than others and resulting in widespread upheaval. Women workers, however, have been affected to such an extent that some economists are calling this the first “she-cession.” Between February and May 2020, women bore 57% of employment losses, and experienced higher rates of…Read More
Work Words: Define That for Me Please
Let’s face it, labour market information (LMI) can be confusing. And, to be frank, the term LMI itself sounds like jargon you only hear from researchers, academics or government officials. However, at the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC) we are working to change this perception. Have you ever wondered how occupations are defined in Canada?…Read More
Job Loss Impacts of COVID-19 by Education, Gender and Age
Widespread job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic have had an outsized impact on workers with lower levels of education. Since these workers tend to earn less on average, economists are concerned about rising inequality around the world. To see how Canadian workers are being affected, we examine the recent employment impacts by educational attainment,…Read More
Impact of COVID-19 on Career Development
How has COVID-19 affected the career development sector? With the shutdown of non-essential businesses and organizations across Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to far-reaching impacts across all labour market sectors. Front-line workers are coping with longer shifts, health and safety concerns, and escalating client needs within this new reality. Many businesses are trying to…Read More
COVID-19 Job Losses Concentrated Among the Lowest Earners
Employment fell by a further 1,993,800 (11%) in April, bringing total job losses to more than 3 million over the past two months. The official unemployment rate now stands at 13.0%, up from 7.8% in March. The job losses in March and April both far exceed the previous largest drop in employment recorded in the…Read More
Addressing critical workforce needs: Ensuring Canada’s food supply in times of crisis
Until a few weeks ago, most Canadians hadn’t thought much about where their food comes from, who produces it, or if there would be enough for everyone. Panic buying across the country has meant that one week there are no eggs in grocery stores, and the next week there is no flour. Confronted with empty…Read More
Gender Implications of COVID-19 Unemployment
Between February and March 2020, the Canadian unemployment rate jumped from 5.6% to 7.8%. This was driven, in large part, by increases in temporary layoffs for occupations in sales and service, education, law, and social, community and government services. As non-essential businesses were forced to close, unemployment in these (and other) occupations grew substantially. This…Read More
Essential Services and Occupations: A Pan-Canadian List
To ensure the labour market information we share is up to date, we will continue to update our Pan-Canadian Essential Services List as new LMI emerges about the effects of the pandemic on the labour force. Our latest update was on April 28, 2020. Download the updated list here. LMIC has worked to pinpoint the…Read More