From May 12 to May 25, more than 43,000 Canadians participated in an online crowdsourcing survey to share their perceptions of crime and personal safety in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Half (50 per cent) of the crowdsourcing participants felt that the level of crime in their neighbourhood had remained about the same since the start of the pandemic, 15 per cent felt … Read more
Statistics Canada released a new study entitled “Inequality in the feasibility of working from home during and after COVID-19,” which shows that families with lower levels of education and earnings are the least likely to hold jobs that can be done from home. This finding suggests that the risk of experiencing a work interruption during the … Read more
Labour Force Survey results for May reflect labour market conditions as of the week of May 10 to May 16. In May, employment rose by 290,000 (+1.8 per cent), while the number of people who worked less than half their usual hours dropped by 292,000 (-8.6 per cent). Combined, these changes in the labour market represented a recovery of 10.6 per cent of the COVID-19-related … Read more
In April, production shutdowns in a number of manufacturing industries, falling energy product prices, the closure of many retail stores, and weaker demand due to physical distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in drastic decreases in Canada’s exports and imports. Exports fell 29.7 per cent to $32.7 billion in April, the lowest level in more than 10 years. Imports were … Read more
Labour productivity of Canadian businesses rose 3.4 per cent in the first quarter, the largest quarterly increase recorded, as hours worked fell faster than business output. Real GDP of businesses fell 2.6 per cent, reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March, along with other factors earlier in the quarter. Output fell in both goods-producing businesses (-1.1 per … Read more
The international standard used to measure convenient access to public transportation is defined as the percentage of a population living within 500 metres of a public transport access point. Canada’s three largest metropolitan areas (Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver) provide the most convenient access to public transit nationally, each with over 90 per cent of residents living within 500 metres of public … Read more
Total investment in building construction decreased 3.6 per cent to $15.4 billion in March, with declines in both residential (-3.3 per cent to $10.5 billion) and non-residential (-4.3 per cent to $4.9 billion) investment. Construction in March was negatively affected by COVID-19 restrictions, especially in Quebec which shut down all non-essential building construction on March 25. Details online. Data on provincial and territorial real … Read more
GDP fell 2.1 per cent in the first quarter, owing to reduced household spending and widespread shutdowns of non-essential businesses in March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Final domestic demand fell 1.5 per cent. Expressed at an annualized rate, real GDP fell 8.2 per cent in the first quarter. By comparison, real GDP in the United States fell 5.0 per cent. Details online. … Read more
Data are now available from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH), which provides a monthly portrait of payroll employment, earnings, and hours worked at the national level and by province/territory. When used in conjunction with the March Labour Force Survey, the SEPH helps complete the portrait of the Canadian labour market and Canada’s economic performance, … Read more
The total value of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities plummeted 17.1 per cent to $6.0 billion in April. The decrease in April was the largest decline since a similar drop in October 2008 during the financial crisis. When combined with the March decline, the value of building permits has fallen by 28.1 per cent from February levels. Declines were reported in eight … Read more
