There was a steep rise in the number of Canadian residents facing long-term unemployment towards the end of 2020. This means that more long-term unemployment is caused by the pandemic than the 2008 recession.
Anybody without any employment for 27 weeks is said to be under long-term unemployment. There was a surge in these numbers in the months of September and October 2020.
Following this surge was news of large-scale job losses in March and April. This was at a time when businesses shut down to control the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus.
8 months since, the global pandemic forced the rates of long-term unemployment to increase further. Thus, it overtook the number of long-term unemployment caused by the 2008 recession.
There were 493,000 long-term unemployed people in Canada in December. This number is just under one-third of the total unemployed individuals.
Due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases during the winter season, tighter health restrictions were implemented. These included:
- Lockdowns and curfews in different provinces.
- Stay-at-home orders.
As a result of this, the Canadian economic recovery slowed down tremendously.
In December 2020, the rate of employment dipped for the first time since April. There were 1.1 million Covid-19 affected workers by the end of last year. This number includes those whose working hours got reduced or lose their jobs.
How Did The Global Pandemic Affect Individuals And Businesses?
There was an economic slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in Canada. Due to this, there was a major impact on the economic activities of individuals and businesses. There are many people who had to think twice before spending like they used to before the pandemic.
There were many businesses that were able to develop their digital capabilities. However, due to the pandemic, their employees preferred to work from home.
The increasing economic and financial uncertainty forced the businesses to put their expansion plans on hold. As the nation adapted to the “new normal,” there was a change in the economic activity of the citizens.
Operations of various businesses faced regular disruptions due to openings and closures. Most of these companies are still trying to adjust to the nationwide restrictions. However, they continue to face uncertainty and short-run turbulence. As a result of this, some companies may have to cut down on their staff.
The Canadian Survey on Business Conditions pointed out the primary stress factors that some of the companies are facing.
30% of those who responded, failed to predict for how long they intend to continue at their present revenue levels. Another 6% said that they will continue to operate for less than 3 months. On the other hand, 5% said that they intend to either file for bankruptcy or close their business forever.
Vaccines for All Canadian by September 2021
All willing Canadians will get vaccinated by September 2021. This has been repeatedly pointed out by the Canadian public health agency and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
There are Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines with which the country expects to vaccinate close to 36 million people. The target for this mission is September 2021.
Nonetheless, Health Canada is pretty close to finalizing the review of the new Covid-19 vaccine to hit Canada. This vaccine is from AstraZeneca.
If the review is good, Canada will soon have a third Covid-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca.
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