Future of work
A curated resource of recent research on trends shaping Canada's labour market.
The authors discuss the groups most impacted by the pandemic in Canada and review the suite of government measures introduced, including issues regarding fiscal viability. In particular, the authors highlight that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April 2020, Canada lost more jobs than it had in the past three recessions combined. The labour market recovered most of those losses, but employment gains slowed and continued to weigh especially on youth, low-wage workers, women and workers in hard-hit industries. Like many other OECD countries, the ongoing sustainability of public finances depends primarily on interest rates remaining low and on phasing out pandemic-related measures reasonably quickly. The increase in debt will affect the ability of Canadian federal and provincial governments to address major pre-COVID structural issues such as population aging and climate change.