This research explores the impact of COVID-19 on businesses majority-owned by visible minorities in the second quarter of 2021, using data from the Canadian Business Survey. Businesses majority-owned by visible minorities represent 13% of all private sector businesses.   The authors find that businesses majority-owned by visible minorities face greater decreases in demand, prices, sales and profitability compared to all…Read More

Travel restrictions have had a significant impact on businesses in the tourism sector. Nearly 85% of businesses in the tourism sector experienced a decline in revenue in 2020.  Many tourism businesses believe losses will continue into the near future and anticipate rising costs of inputs, continued and additional travel restrictions and other obstacles to attracting customers.   Despite these challenges, businesses in the tourism sector report a positive outlook in…Read More

  This research explores the impact of COVID-19 on the work experiences and labour market outcomes of skilled immigrant women. The authors examine the experiences of immigrant women with a higher-level of education who arrived in Canada within the past five years.  The pandemic contributed to the shifting structure of work by marginalizing some groups more than others, thereby limiting the social capital and support available for…Read More

  This paper describes how the well-being aspects of income and wealth, knowledge and skills, work–life balance, health, and environment have been affected during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Income and wealth of low-income earners were significantly impacted, and both unemployment and financial stressors have been disproportionately felt by women, youth, indigenous people and minority groups. Many of these same…Read More

    The C.D. Howe Institute proposes a Shadow Budget for the federal government of Canada to address two challenges. The first is executing measures conductive to a strong post-pandemic economic recovery and the second is lowering government debt to amounts that are economically viable and fair to future Canadians. This Shadow Budget includes measures…Read More

  This paper explores the relationship between mental health, labour market attachment and protective health measures at work. The researchers surveyed over 5000 respondents, measuring anxiety and depression symptoms, as well as their perceived adequacy and implementation of infection control programs and personal protective equipment at their workplace. The respondents were grouped between unemployed, remote workers and…Read More

  The authors of this paper look at Canada’s current early learning and childcare policies and suggest three recommendations. First, the existing Child Care Expense Deduction (CCED), which is regressive in nature since it reinforces patriarchal gender roles for parents, should be substituted with a more generous, progressive, frequently paid refundable tax credit. Second, provinces…Read More

    This study uses the supplement to the Labour Force Survey and focus on the core-aged employees who usually worked outside the home prior to the COVID-19 pandemic but worked most of their hours at home during the week of February 14 to 20, 2021. Most of these new teleworkers (90%) report being at least as productive at home as they were in their usual place of…Read More

  This study compares the characteristics of businesses that closed in September and November of 2020 with those closed in February 2020 to estimate the risk of business closure due to COVID 19. It uses new linked administrative data on business closures and past financial positions to estimate how business characteristics impact closures. It finds that businesses that closed in…Read More

    This research explores the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender and class equity. The authors find that between February and October 2020, gender inequalities in employment widened primarily because female-dominated sectors were more disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. School closures and childcare restrictions also widened the gap.   However, as restrictions eased, re-opening…Read More