The COVID-19 pandemic and life satisfaction in Canada. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Government of Canada.
This study compares the life satisfaction of Canadians before and during the COVID‑19 pandemic using population-representative samples from the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey and the June 2020 Canadian Perspectives Survey Series. It finds that the average life satisfaction among Canadians declined by 1.38 points, from 8.09 on the 0–10 scale in 2018 to…Read More
Vulnerabilities related to COVID-19 among LGBTQ2+ Canadians. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Government of Canada.
As there is not yet a dataset focused on LGBTQ2S+ Canadians during the COVID‑19 pandemic, this article explores the inequalities in income, financial security and housing insecurity between LGBTQ2S+ and non‑LGBTQ2S+ Canadians that existed prior to the pandemic and could be exacerbated by it. These inequalities include LGBTQ2S+ Canadians having lower incomes, which can…Read More
IZA COVID-19 crisis response monitoring: Canada (November 2020). Bonn, Germany: IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
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…Read More
The next wave: Automation and Canada’s labour market. Commentary No. 585. Toronto, ON: C.D. Howe Institute.
Using data from Statistics Canada, the author estimates that only 22% of employment is at high risk from automation. Past research overestimates job loss risk due to automation at 42%. The agriculture, natural resources, utilities and manufacturing sectors are at high risk of automation as compared to health, law, education and government services. The…Read More
Impact of COVID-19 on businesses majority-owned by visible minorities, third quarter of 2020. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
This report analyzes the disparate impact of COVID-19 on businesses that are majority-owned by visible minorities. The findings show that 24.7% of these businesses reported a decrease of 40% or more in revenue in August 2020 compared to revenues in August 2019, compared to 21.1% of all businesses in Canada. In addition, only a…Read More
Canadian women continue to exit the labour force. Toronto, ON: Royal Bank of Canada.
This report highlights that even as more men join the workforce, Canadian women continue to retreat from it due to COVID-19, risking an erosion of skills. This may in turn exacerbate the gender wage gap. According to the report, more than 20,000 women fell out of the labour force between February and October 2020),…Read More
Labour market impacts of COVID-19 on Indigenous people: March to August 2020. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Government of Canada.
Using the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for March to August 2020, this paper examines how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted labour market conditions among Indigenous people living off reserve. While the initial impacts of the pandemic were similar among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, recovery has been slower for Indigenous people. Particularly for Indigenous women, employment…Read More
Employment in the informal economy: Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 40(9/10), 1005–1019.
This work addresses current definitional understandings of informal employment, conceptual approaches to explain its participation, and solutions to support informal economies in transitioning to more formal avenues of employment. Informal economies disproportionately employ young, immigrant, minority, and female groups. Informal employment encompasses work that does not follow employment and tax regulations but is otherwise…Read More
Reconceptualizing parental leave benefits in COVID-19 Canada: From employment policy to care and social protection policy. Canadian Public Policy, 46(S3), S272–S286.
The unprecedented impact of COVID-19 on the labour force and the provision of childcare have given rise to criticism of childcare policy. However, little attention has been awarded to parental leave, which has also been severely impacted by the changes to employment levels and arrangements caused by COVID-19. This paper argues that these impacts…Read More
Differential impacts during COVID-19 in Canada: A look at diverse individuals and their businesses. Canadian Public Policy, 46(S3), S261–S271.
Using datasets from Statistics Canada, this paper reports that diverse groups — including women, racialized people, those with disabilities, Indigenous people and immigrants — have been more affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors highlight that these groups are more likely to be in part-time or precarious employment, have fewer options to work from…Read More