Canadian Economy Begins to Heal- Added 2, 90,000 New Jobs in May 2020

Canadian economy seems to bounce back rapidly with a surprising addition of over 2, 90,000 jobs in May 2020, according to a report by Statistics Canada. The labor market strengthened after two straight months of continues job losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The sudden increase in job creation is a positive sign and paints an optimistic picture from the constant losses experienced by millions of Canadian citizens and permanent residents in March and April. 

As per Statistics Canada, the total number of employed people in Canada increased by 289,600 last month as restrictions gradually decrease and provinces began to reopen their economies and other parts of the country. The increase in job creation along with the number of people coming back to the work together contributes to the country’s regaining its economic position, which somewhat got hit by the pandemic earlier this year. Canada has recovered 10.6% of the Covid-19 related job losses which had happened in March and April. This was far different from the median estimate of 500,000 job losses which had expected by economists. The unemployment rate jumped up by 13.7% as more Canadians have started to hunt for new jobs. 

With more relaxations being proposed and restrictions being lifted by the federal and provincial governments, it has become easy for people to rejoin the workforce, businesses to re-open, and economy to recover. The French province of Canada- Quebec saw the greatest employment gains of nearly 80% in May. The province added a total of 231,000 jobs, while Ontario-where the economic shutdown was largely concentrated due to the Covid-19 saw more job losses. Atlantic Canada is another province bringing a ray of hope for thousands of Canadians with impressive job gains. In Manitoba, employment increased by 13,000 in May. Western Canada is also showing a positive increase, with Alberta and British Columbia economies also snapping back at an exemplary rate. 

The addition of new jobs and the reopening of economy in several parts of Canada is a good news for the citizens as well as permanent residents Canada who lost their jobs because of the pandemic. It also instills a sense of hope among Canada immigration aspirants as well who are trying to migrate to Canada and secure permanent residency in the country. 

Immigration is a key to employment creation in Canada. Although, due to travel restrictions and economic slowdown posed by the pandemic, it is unlikely that Canada is going to meet its immigration level of 340,000 newcomers by the end of 2020. We can still be hopeful that the government of Canada continues to conduct immigration draws regularly, and thus pushing hard to achieve the target by welcoming more newcomers, which will expedite the economic recovery.