StatsCan Report: Up To Half a Million Jobs Lost Due to COVID-19 Travel Restrictions
October 27, 2020 ctn_admin
A Statistics Canada report says the travel restrictions imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 have caused the loss of up to half a million jobs.
In a new report, StatsCan says the restrictions imposed to try to slow the coronavirus are estimated to have reduced Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the range of $27.9 billion to $37.1 billion and to the loss of 400,000 to 500,000 jobs in 2020.
The report lays out the damage done to the tourism and travel industries by COVID-19 in stark terms.
“According to the Labour Force Survey, total paid employment in the tourism industry for April and May 2020 declined by almost 60% from 2019 levels, more than double the declines observed in non-tourism industries.”
Not only that, but StatsCan points out that the travel restrictions “could also have a much broader impact on the Canadian economy because of the interdependency between the tourism industry and other industries.”
“The estimates suggest that the travel restrictions could have a significant impact on the Canadian economy and that the impacts could vary depending on when travel restrictions are lifted and what type of recovery follows,” the report says. “The longer it takes for the travel restrictions to be lifted and for the recovery, the larger the possible impact is.
“Under the scenarios considered in this article, the travel restrictions could cause a large blow to the tourism industry, reducing its GDP in 2020 by almost 50% to 70% from 2019. The travel restrictions could also cause significant losses in other industries. The total impact for 2020 alone could result in a loss of real GDP of about 1.2% to 1.7%, which accounts for more than 10% of the projected overall decline in GDP growth.”
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