A Third (35%) of Canadians Continue to be Impacted By Layoffs (14%), Reduced Pay (16%), or have had to Close their Small Business (4%)

Toronto, ON, May 14, 2020 —  With reports indicating that 2 million Canadians lost their job in April alone, a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News shows that COVID-19 has disrupted employment in some way for as many as one in three Canadians (35%). The impact to employment has disproportionally affected younger Canadians as layoffs, reduced pay, or small business closures have jolted nearly half (48%) of those aged 18 to 34 and four in ten (40%) of those aged 35 to 54 (vs. 19% among those aged 55 and older).

• Two in ten Canadians (16%, +3) are working with reduced pay, either accompanied by reduced hours (10%, +1) or still keeping up their regular working hours (6%, +2). Households with kids are more likely to still be working their regular hours but with reduced pay (11% vs. 4% among those with no kids);
• More than one in ten Canadians (14%, -4) have been laid off, and this decrease since last wave may be due to employers recalling a portion of the workforce, after a temporary layoff;
• One in twenty five Canadians (4%, -1) are small business owners who have had to close their business altogether;
• Two in three (65%, -1) continue to say none of these situations apply to them, which would include anybody still engaged in full employment, those working in unique arrangements, students, retired Canadians, etc.

With economic relief measures quickly set up by the government to help mitigate the impact of the crisis, among those who have been laid off or have had to close shop, more than half (53%) indicate they are receiving financial support from the government which they believe is enough to get them through this situation. Two in ten (16%) however are receiving financial support but do not think it is enough to ride the wave, and this sentiment is echoed by a quarter of Alberta (24%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (20%) residents compared to only 6% of residents in the Atlantic or 4% in Alberta who do not think the financial support is enough. Nearly a quarter (21%) are not eligible to receive financial support from the government while another 10% have not yet applied despite being eligible.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between May 8 and 11, 2020, on behalf of Global News. For this survey, a sample of 1000 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online. Quotas and weighting were employed to ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census parameters. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ± 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadians aged 18+ been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Darrell Bricker, PhD
CEO, Ipsos Global Public Affairs
+1 416 324-2001
[email protected]

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