8 April 2021, 10:50 a.m.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the related business restrictions and lockdown measures decreased employment in Canada by 16% from February to April 2020. By February 2021, one year after the pandemic started, total employment was at 97% of its February 2020 level.
The pandemic’s effect on employment can be analyzed using various parameters, such as age and ethnicity. This HillNote focuses on the pandemic’s effect on employment by industry. A future note may examine the differences by other parameters, such as gender.
The Canadian Economy’s Industries in Colour
In order to parallel the colour codes some provinces are using to explain the severity of their public health measures, this HillNote assigns the same colours (green, yellow, orange and red) to the 101 industries of the Canadian economy depending on the severity of their employment losses in the past year. These 101 industries combine smaller industries in the same area of activity that experienced similar employment changes. However, it is important to note that changes in employment are not always due solely to the pandemic and employment in some industries has been stagnant or declining for many years. Figure 1 summarizes the employment situation for each colour code.
Figure 1 – Summary of the Employment Situation by Colour Code
| Question | Green | Yellow | Orange | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How are colours assigned to industries? | The industry is in green if employment stayed unchanged or increased from February 2020 to February 2021. | The industry is in yellow if employment fell between 0% and 3.2% from February 2020 to February 2021. | The industry is in orange if employment fell between 3.2% and 10% from February 2020 to February 2021. | The industry is in red if employment fell by over 10% from February 2020 to February 2021. |
| What was the average change in employment between February 2020 and February 2021? | On average, employment rose by 8.8%. | On average, employment fell by 2.3%. | On average, employment fell by 7.7%. | On average, employment fell by 22.2%. |
| What was the share of employment in February 2020? | 46.6% | 10.1% | 17.4% | 25.8% |
| What was the share of employment in February 2021? | 52.4% | 10.2% | 16.6% | 20.8% |
Source: Table prepared by the author with data from Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Figure 2 shows total employment in February 2021 compared with February 2021 levels, sorted by industry and colour.
Figure 2 – Employment Level, February 2021, by Industry and Colour
| Industry | Employment, February 2021 (February 2020 = 100) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing of cereal, sugar, canned goods, fish products, animal food and other foods | 146.4 |
| Delivery services | 135.7 |
| Jewellery stores, florist shops and bookstores | 134.4 |
| Petroleum products and food merchant wholesalers | 134.0 |
| Printing and related support activities | 131.7 |
| Water and pipeline transportation | 130.6 |
| Non-store retailers (Internet, catalogue or other sales) | 128.1 |
| Telecommunications and other information services | 126.8 |
| Community and rehabilitation services | 122.6 |
| Specialized design services | 122.1 |
| Non-metallic mineral product manufacturing | 122.1 |
| Defence, Aboriginal and international public administration | 121.4 |
| Oil and gas extraction | 120.8 |
| Motion pictures, music, radio, television | 120.1 |
| Waste management and remediation services | 119.0 |
| Legal services | 118.8 |
| School and employee bus transportation | 117.8 |
| Heavy and civil engineering construction | 116.7 |
| Manufacturing of chemical and plastic products | 116.4 |
| Community colleges and CEGEPs | 116.4 |
| Natural gas and water and sewage systems | 116.2 |
| Computer systems design and related services | 115.6 |
| Ambulatory health care and laboratory services | 112.4 |
| Software publishers | 110.0 |
| Oilseed and grain farming | 108.9 |
| Machinery manufacturing | 108.7 |
| Elementary and secondary schools | 107.8 |
| Fishing and support activities for agriculture and forestry | 107.6 |
| Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers | 107.3 |
| Transportation equipment manufacturing | 107.1 |
| Wood product manufacturing | 106.8 |
| Finance and insurance | 105.8 |
| Provincial administration | 105.2 |
| Management, scientific and technical consulting services | 104.3 |
| Electronics and appliance stores | 104.2 |
| Building equipment and finishing contractors | 103.9 |
| Religious, giving and business organizations | 103.9 |
| Accounting | 103.7 |
| Postal service | 103.7 |
| Federal government administration | 103.2 |
| Clothing and leather product manufacturing | 102.3 |
| Personal goods and sundries merchant wholesalers | 102.3 |
| Universities | 102.3 |
| Hospitals and health care facilities | 102.3 |
| Advertising | 101.3 |
| Department stores | 100.0 |
| Sporting goods and hobby stores | 99.2 |
| Health and personal care stores | 98.5 |
| Scientific research and development services | 98.3 |
| Municipal administration | 98.0 |
| Electric power generation, transmission and distribution | 97.9 |
| Motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts merchant wholesalers | 97.8 |
| Other crop farming (e.g., tobacco, sugar beets, hay, agave, herbs and spices, mint, hops, maple sap) | 97.4 |
| Truck transportation | 97.2 |
| Offices of health professionals | 97.2 |
| Forestry and logging | 97.1 |
| Private household services (housekeepers, gardeners) | 95.3 |
| Repair and maintenance excluding motor vehicles | 95.1 |
| Real estate and rental services | 94.9 |
| Construction of residential buildings | 94.4 |
| Investigation and security services | 93.8 |
| Individual and family services | 93.8 |
| Construction and machinery equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers | 93.6 |
| Fabricated metal and metal product manufacturing | 93.2 |
| Services to buildings and dwellings | 92.6 |
| Architectural services | 91.8 |
| Cattle ranching and farming | 91.5 |
| Automotive repair and maintenance | 91.4 |
| Food and beverage stores | 91.3 |
| Mining (except oil and gas) | 90.7 |
| Other transit and transportation | 90.5 |
| Travel arrangement and reservation services | 89.4 |
| Miscellaneous product stores | 89.3 |
| Textiles and miscellaneous manufacturing | 87.3 |
| Personal and laundry services | 85.7 |
| Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing | 85.4 |
| Other administration and employment services | 84.5 |
| Furniture and home furnishings stores | 84.3 |
| Electrical equipment manufacturing | 84.1 |
| Paper and petroleum product manufacturing | 84.0 |
| Warehousing | 83.9 |
| Other schools and educational services | 83.7 |
| Furniture and related product manufacturing | 83.5 |
| Construction of non-residential buildings | 83.0 |
| Rail transportation | 79.3 |
| Fruit and vegetable, greenhouse, nursery and floriculture production | 76.9 |
| Foundation and specialty trade contractors | 76.6 |
| Food services and drinking places | 76.5 |
| Taxi and limousine service | 76.3 |
| Child day-care services | 76.3 |
| Dairy, meat and bakery product manufacturing | 75.8 |
| Farm and automotive product merchant wholesalers | 74.8 |
| Computer and electronic product manufacturing | 74.7 |
| Clothing and shoe stores | 73.5 |
| Newspaper publishers and data processing | 67.5 |
| Animal production and aquaculture (excluding cattle farming) | 66.4 |
| Gasoline stations | 64.7 |
| Air transportation | 64.3 |
| Performing arts, heritage institutions and amusement | 62.9 |
| Accommodation services | 59.2 |
Source: Table prepared by the author with data from Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey (LFS).
Conclusion
The COVID-19 pandemic affected employment in different parts of the economy to very different degrees. Employment in green industries was 9% higher in February 2021 than in February 2020, but 22% lower in red ones.
Author: André Léonard, Library of Parliament