As the COVID-19 pandemic triggered in Canada, the economic activities started to slow down in the country. By the end of March 2020, the country has registered nearly 9,700 cases and around 130 mortalities due to the pandemic. Even the wife of Canadian Prime Minister tests positive for coronavirus. The government has issued strict social-distancing measures to prevent the spread of the virus among people. It results in a large number of businesses have to temporarily shut their operations.
Some of the most affected sectors in the country include aviation, oil & gas and retail & entertainment. Only 40 out of 62 airports are operating in the country after the pandemic. Air Canada, the largest airline of the country has laid off half of its employees temporarily. The airline company has also announced to reduce operations by 85-90% from April 2020. Besides, on March 26th Bombardier has announced to stop their operation in Canada for two weeks in Ontario and until 13 April in Quebec.
Besides, in the oil sector, as the international price of crude oil plummeted, the prices of crude oil of Western Canadian Select have been reduced up to $5.43 per barrel as compared to $35.82 per barrel in January. To tackle the industry crises, the Canadian federal government has announced a package of $10 billion for the oil industry.
In March 2020, more than a million claims related to unemployment benefits have been witnessed in the country which is around 5% of the total workforce. As per a survey by Angus Reid Institute, around 44% of households in the country had lost working hours due to pandemic. Moreover, around 33% of respondents are concerned related to mortgage or rent payment.
To cope up with the slowdown, the government of Canada has announced to spend $75 billion as an emergency aid. The bill related to it was passed on 25th March 2020 with the consent of all the parties. The bill includes a hike in the child benefit payments to families with children, subsidies in wages for small businesses, and tax relief measures. The people who have lost their job due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be provided around $1,500 for the next four months. It would also include quarantined people or person helping a sick family member.
