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It is perhaps an understatement to call the unemployment picture across Canada grim.

Roughly five per cent of the Canadian labour force, or one million people, are now out of work because of COVID-19. A further 10 per cent worked less than half of their usual hours, none in some cases, despite technically remaining employed. In Toronto — which has experienced an unprecedented employment boom over the past five years — at least 25 per cent of all jobs have now been wiped out.

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But the most remarkable thing about these statistics is that they represent just two weeks worth of data showing the devastation COVID-19 has wrought on the employment landscape. The situation can get markedly worse, and likely will.



Almost seven million to date, more than a third of the number of Canadians who had a job in mid-March have filed for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit

A fuller portrait of the severity of this unemployment crisis will be revealed May 8, when Statistics Canada releases new figures tracking jobs lost by mid-April. The only real-time indication a historic blitzkrieg of job losses is happening is the number of people who have filed for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit: almost seven million to date, more than a third of the number of Canadians who had a job in mid-March.