Â鶹´«Ã½

Canada

    • Canadian incomes went up in 2020 amid uptake of pandemic benefits: census data

    Share
    OTTAWA -

    It was March 2020, just before the first lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Ottawa resident Stephanie Fortin had recently lost her full-time retail job.

    As soon as businesses closed their doors in compliance with public health measures, it became near-impossible for Fortin to find work. So she applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, a hastily assembled government program that offered eligible recipients $500 a week from March 15 to Sept. 26.

    Fortin is one of some 20.7 million Canadians who received pandemic supports in 2020, according to data from the 2021 census that Statistics Canada published on Wednesday.

    The that Canadian incomes trended 9.8 per cent higher during the early pandemic than five years earlier, with Alberta and Newfoundland and Labrador seeing the only overall decreases. The median after-tax household income was $73,000, a reflection of slow employment income growth over five years and higher government transfers in 2020 specifically.

    Despite fewer Canadians receiving employment income during the pandemic, the transfers pushed the low-income rate down to 11.1 per cent in 2020 versus 14.4 per cent in 2015, the largest decline since 1976. Statistics Canada also attributes a decrease in income inequality to the programs.

    Experts cautioned that the income data, which is based on Canada Revenue Agency tax and benefits records, would form a complicated picture of the early pandemic and should be seen as a snapshot in time -- longer-term factors are at play in understanding how the landscape has evolved since.

    During the time that she received CERB, Fortin was able to cover her bills, pursue long-abandoned hobbies and plan ahead for her next steps toward an education that would land her a better-paying and more satisfying job.

    "For a lot of us, it was the first time that we couldn't identify as our work. We had to truly figure out who we are," she said in an interview. "And that break, both mentally and financially, where I didn't have to worry about money, allowed me to envision what I wanted for myself in the future."

    Last year, Fortin enrolled in a dental assistant program at La Cite, a francophone college in Ottawa, and after graduating this spring the 30-year-old is working as an assistant in a dental office.

    In every economic crisis, there is a measurable trend of younger workers pursuing more education to make themselves more attractive to employers, economist Armine Yalnizyan explained ahead of the census data being released.

    Yalnizyan, who is the Atkinson fellow on the future of workers, argued that young people aged 15 to 34 currently have "the biggest leg up of any generation since the 1950s" in finding the types of jobs they want. Though CERB played a role in helping some young people toward those goals, she said the bigger factor to pay attention to is population aging.

    Half a million older adults entered the 65-plus demographic since the pandemic began, with many others taking early retirement. This affects the mobility of younger adults in the labour market, Yalnizyan said, but will also skew average income trends, as retirees form a large population bloc and tend to bring in lower, fixed incomes.

    "What the pandemic did was actually pour accelerant on the main story of the labour market for the last 10 years," Yalnizyan said, referring to the effects of population aging. "It just accelerated what was going to happen anyway."

    That longer-term trend is reflected in the census data, which shows more than 20 per cent of the workforce already fell under the 55 to 64 category by 2020.

    Another factor that Yalnizyan said will influence overall income and labour trends in the wake of the pandemic is the widening of Canada's temporary foreign worker programs, which are admitting larger numbers of non-residents for whom wage growth is typically stagnant.

    This year's federal budget promised to address labour shortages, including in sectors such as retail, food services and health care, by loosening restrictions on the number of temporary workers that can be brought in and for how long they can work.

    That labour shortage is a reflection of how quickly employment rates returned to something that looked like normal after the initial pandemic slump, according to Casey Warman, an economics professor at Dalhousie University.

    "The bounceback was incredibly fast. Surprisingly fast," he said in an interview before the census data's release. "By halfway through 2021, we're completely back to where we were before."

    Still, the numbers from 2020 offer a valuable snapshot on what people's sources of income were during the pandemic, he said.

    In a news conference Wednesday morning, Andre Bernard, chief of the centre for income and socioeconomic well-being at Statistics Canada, said it is difficult to unpack what would have happened in 2020 without the impact of the government transfers, though certain year-over-year statistics show the negative impact of the pandemic when viewed in isolation.

    The share of Canadians receiving employment income fell from 2019, with more women than men dropping out of the labour market. The gender pay gap remained, with men earning 35 per cent more than women, according to median income rates.

    In 2020, 113,835 fewer Canadians received employment income than in 2019, and 415,585 more earned less than $20,000.

    Taken in isolation from the pandemic benefits, median employment incomes were down from 2019 in most provinces. The biggest losses came in resource-rich Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Saskatchewan, down 6.3 per cent, six per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively -- losses attributed in part to record-low oil prices.

    Higher median incomes in British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and the three territories are a reflection of job losses in low-income sectors, the agency reported, because people who did not earn any income are not reflected in the median income calculations.

    More than two-thirds of Canadian adults, or 68.4 per cent, received COVID-19 related government benefits, with 27.6 of adults receiving federal emergency and recovery benefits, most often CERB.

    More than half of adults also received top-ups to existing federal programs, including 90.5 per cent of seniors, and 4.2 million Canadian adults also received money through provincial or territorial relief programs.

    This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2022.

    CTVNews.ca Top Stories

    A team of tornado experts is heading to Fergus, Ont. after a storm ripped through the area Sunday night.

    Why brain aging can vary dramatically between people

    Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.

    • LIVE

      LIVE

      Thousands of people are gathered in downtown Vancouver to observe the city’s 100th Remembrance Day ceremony.

    • A suspect was arrested for allegedly brandishing a knife outside a Vancouver elementary school on Friday – just as the young students were heading home for the day.

    • Toronto is expected to see an economic boost to the tune of nearly $300 million thanks to Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour, which will be making a stop in Canada’s largest city for a six-show run later this month.

    • One man was transported to hospital early Monday morning after a stabbing in the northwest end of the city, Toronto police say.

    • Calgarians will be observing Remembrance Day at a number of different ceremonies across the city, including at the Hangar Flight Museum.

    • Getting out to the mountains is even easier with a new bus route from a growing Germany-based service.

    • A home in the northeast Calgary community of Saddle Ridge was damaged in a fire on Sunday.

    • CTVNewsOttawa.ca looks at Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa.

    • After months of controversy surrounding a dog park in Ottawa's west end, a solution has been reached to divide the park in half.

    • With fewer interments and rising maintenance fees, the money for Canada's largest military cemetery will run out in three to four years.

    • Montreal Metro passengers can now flag a safety concern by texting a new phone number launched by the STM.

    • The employers association at the Port of Montreal locked out nearly 1,200 longshore workers, bringing a halt to traffic at the port.

    • LIVE @ 10:45 A.M. MT

      LIVE @ 10:45 A.M. MT

      Monday is Remembrance Day, a time to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty.

    • WEATHER

      WEATHER

      This is shaping up to be one of the warmest Remembrance Days in the past decade, at least, for temperatures.

    • Maritimers will stop Monday to remember those who have served, and continue to serve, in Canada's armed forces for Remembrance Day.

    • A Cape Breton senior recalls her life in German-occupied France, and her mother’s death, during the Second World War.

    • Thousand of people gathered at the Menin Gate in the Ypres, Belgium for Monday’s Remembrance Day Ceremony.

    • Remembrance Day is today, and a number of ceremonies are taking place around the province to honour those who gave their lives to serve our country.

    • A pillar in Canada’s history was honoured in Winnipeg Sunday afternoon, with thousands showing up to pay tribute to the life and legacy of the late Murray Sinclair.

    • Winnipeg police have identified two men involved in a stabbing incident earlier this week.

    • There will be two ceremonies taking place in Regina for Remembrance Day, hosted by the Royal Canadian Legion.

    • Regina author Valerie Crowther is celebrating the release of her book ‘War Letters: Linking Lives in the Second World War.’

    • It was a somber day at Mosaic Stadium as members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders officially cleaned out their stalls and closed the book on the 2024 season.

    • Saskatchewan RCMP are searching for a suspect after a man was seriously injured in a farm-related incident in Montreal Lake.

    • It was a somber day at Mosaic Stadium as members of the Saskatchewan Roughriders officially cleaned out their stalls and closed the book on the 2024 season.

    • The Regina Rams claimed the Hardy Cup after a hard fought battle against the Saskatoon Huskies 19-14 on Saturday in the first all Saskatchewan U-Sports western conference final since 2002.

    • Emergency crews responded to the scene on Road 68/Highway 2 east of Thamesford around 7 p.m.

    • A team of tornado experts is heading to Fergus, Ont. after a storm ripped through the area Sunday night.

    • Three people were taken to hospital after a plane crashed in the Municipality of Southwest Middlesex.

    • A Barrie man is at the centre of an alleged $2.2 million stolen used car scheme.

    • Environment Canada issued a weather alert for Barrie, Collingwood and surrounding areas, alerting residents about the wicked winds that are expected to pick up to 80 kilometres per hour in the afternoon hours.

    • Barrie residents gathered on Monday to honour Canada’s veterans and pay tribute to those who served and sacrificed for the country.

    • Windsor Paralympic champion, Danielle Campo, has been crowned the number one Inspirational Speaker of the Year for 2024 at the Inspirational Speaking Finals.

    • Representatives of the Windsor Veterans Memorial Services Committee, military representatives, wreath bearers, government officials, and members of the public will attend the Cenotaph at City Hall Square for the outdoor service.

    • One person has been arrested after Chatham-Kent Police Service (CKPS) received multiple complaints about an alleged drunk driver.

    • Environment Canada says heavy rain and winds could cause power outages on Vancouver Island as an "intense" storm system is set to hit the B.C. coast Sunday.

    • Six deer were struck by vehicles in six different locations in a six-hour period on B.C. highways on Saturday, according to the transportation ministry.

    • The union for locked-out port workers in British Columbia says the BC Maritime Employers Association cut off talks in less than an hour Saturday, refusing to budge on a final offer that the union has so far rejected.

    • The emergency department at South Okanagan General Hospital in Oliver, B.C., will be closed for 31 hours this weekend, the second such closure in a week and the third since the start of November.

    • Police in Kamloops, B.C., are reminding parents and guardians to check their children's Halloween candy after receiving a report of a mother finding a razor blade in one of her daughter's treats.

    • More than two years after Alannah Brown and Douglas Barker were found dead north of Penticton, police are asking for help identifying a vehicle they believe was associated with the crime.

    • The Southern Alberta Recreation Association is officially announcing the Town of Taber as next year’s host for the Southern Alberta Summer Games.

    • The Lethbridge Hurricanes broke open a close game with three goals in the first two minutes of the third period as they defeated the Warriors 7-3 in a game played Friday night in Moose Jaw.

    • There might not a lot snow just yet, but many southern Albertans are still itching to get outdoors.

    • It was just days before the COVID-19 pandemic shut the world down when the Shaft Bottom Boys of Sudbury broke a world record for 'Deepest Concert Underground.' Now, more than four years later, a Timmins band is looking to take the title.

    • Police have arrested a 15-year-old in connection with a break-in and $50,000 in damage done to the Centennial Arena in Elliot Lake in September.

    • Mayors of the five largest cities in northern Ontario met in North Bay the last two days to discuss a range of critical issues impacting their cities and the region.

    N.L.

    Local Spotlight

    For the second year in a row, the ‘Gift-a-Family’ campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.

    Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.

    A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.

    As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.

    A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts – not for themselves, but for those in need.

    A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.

    Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.

    A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.

    Politics

    • Murray Sinclair’s family members say the late justice and senator has been laid to rest according to his wishes.

    • Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced voters in Cloverdale—Langley City will pick their next member of Parliament on Dec. 16.

    Health

    Sci-Tech

    Entertainment

    Business

    Lifestyle

    Sports

    Autos

    Shopping Trends

    The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at Â鶹´«Ã½. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.

    Stay Connected
    Follow Â鶹´«Ã½