Labour Underutilization

Labour Underutilization

Trends

  • In Québec, the labour underutilization rate declined between 1997 and 2020, but surged during the pandemic.

  • In Ontario and Canada, labour underutilization rate remained stable, but surged during the pandemic.

Sources

Statistics Canada. Labour Force Survey (special compilation).

Methodological note

According to Statistics Canada, the labour underutilization rate (a special term used to measure the impact of COVID-19) refers to the proportion of people in the potential labour force who are unemployed, who want a job but haven’t looked for one, or who lost all or most of their usual working hours, most likely due to COVID-19.