OTTAWA -- The record high number of job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic are a “difficult” reminder of the number of Canadians facing economic hardship this spring, says Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In April the Canadian economy lost nearly two million jobs, on top of the one million jobs lost in March, according to Statistics Canada.
Meanwhile, millions of other Canadians have seen their incomes drastically reduced as a result of nearly all non-essential businesses being closed.
Reacting to these figures on social media, Trudeau said: “There are Canadians across the country who need our support, and the job numbers released today are a difficult but important reminder of that,” going on to promise to do more to assist Canadians in the weeks and months ahead.
The numbers are set to be front and centre when he addresses Canadians Friday morning.
He is expected to speak to the more than $150 billion in economic assistance programs the federal government has enacted over the last two months. This has included providing out-of-work Canadians a financial tie-over of $2,000 a month through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which 7.7 million people have applied for.
Though, whether the measures taken so far have been adequate will be something the opposition parties are likely to weigh in on.
The question of whether or not the current aid packages will get extensions could also arise, with some current programs set to end next month, even though the current pace of gradual economic reopening indicating many still won’t be back to work by then.
The current unemployment rate shows the “real impact” the public health crisis and the containment measures are having on the national economic situation, said Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, vowing to consider expanding the amount of time people can claim certain benefits.
“No sector is untouched, no province is untouched, no community is untouched by this,” Qualtrough said in an interview on CTV News Channel on Friday, reacting to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
One figure the government is waiting to see, is how many Canadians are back on the job come May through the 75 per cent wage subsidy program rolled out to incentivize employers to keep staff on the payroll.
“We're looking at this, we've said from the beginning, we want to be there for workers and businesses through this… We're talking about what the next phase of support will look like,” she said.
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May 08, 2020 at 09:20PM
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Record job losses a 'difficult' reminder of COVID-19's impact, PM says - CTV News
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