Canadian job losses threaten to leave women behind, report claims

Changes in busines due to the COVID-19 pandemic have economists worried about ‘long-lasting’ impact on women.

At the end of January, Canada’s economy had 858,000 fewer jobs than it did before the coronavirus pandemic, according to Statistics Canada. But a new report shows that those losses are not being distributed evenly across the board.

Women—especially those in low-paid jobs—are bearing the brunt, as they made up a majority of the work force in hard-hit sectors like hospitality, retail and food, according to a new analysis by RBC published Thursday.

Nearly 100,000 working-age Canadian women have completely left the workforce since the pandemic started, the report claims, which means they aren’t even looking for work any more. The figure for men is more than 10 times smaller—a sign that they feel somewhat brighter about their prospects.

“The longer these women are out of the labor force, the greater the risk of skills erosion, which could potentially hamper their ability to get rehired or to transition to different roles as the economy evolves,” the report says.