{"id":8666,"date":"2021-04-07T17:25:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T17:25:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/04\/07\/the-pandemic-exposed-flaws-in-canadas-economic-system-fixing-them-wont-be-easy\/"},"modified":"2021-04-07T17:25:22","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T17:25:22","slug":"the-pandemic-exposed-flaws-in-canadas-economic-system-fixing-them-wont-be-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2021\/04\/07\/the-pandemic-exposed-flaws-in-canadas-economic-system-fixing-them-wont-be-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"The pandemic exposed flaws in Canada&#8217;s economic system. Fixing them won&#8217;t be easy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> \n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<header aria-label=\"Beginning of Article\" class=\"article-header\">\n<nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Breadcrumb Trail Links<\/h2>\n<ol class=\"breadcrumbs__items list-unstyled\">\n<li class=\"breadcrumbs__item\"> PostPandemic <\/li>\n<li class=\"breadcrumbs__item\"> Economy <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n<p class=\"article-subtitle\"> Kevin Carmichael: All we&#8217;ve done to date is apply very expensive Band-Aids <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"published-by\">\n<p>Author of the article:<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"published-by__author\">Kevin Carmichael<\/span> <\/div>\n<div class=\"published-date\">\n<p>Publishing date:<\/p>\n<p> <span class=\"published-date__since\">Apr 07, 2021<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <span class=\"updated-date__since\">1\u00a0day ago<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <span class=\"published-date__word-count\">14 minute read<\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 <span>  <span class=\"comment-bubble\"> <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" height=\"16px\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"16px\"><path d=\"M4,0 C2.93914,0 1.921718,0.421428 1.171572,1.171572 C0.421428,1.921718 0,2.93914 0,4 L0,24 L3.846,20.158 L4,20.16 L20,20.16 C21.0608,20.16 22.0782,19.73858 22.8284,18.98842 C23.5786,18.23828 24,17.22086 24,16.16 L24,4 C24,2.93914 23.5786,1.921718 22.8284,1.171572 C22.0782,0.421428 21.0608,0 20,0 L4,0 Z M2,4 C2,3.46956 2.21072,2.96086 2.58578,2.58578 C2.96086,2.21072 3.46956,2 4,2 L20,2 C20.5304,2 21.0392,2.21072 21.4142,2.58578 C21.7892,2.96086 22,3.46956 22,4 L22,16.16 C22,16.69044 21.7892,17.19914 21.4142,17.57422 C21.0392,17.94928 20.5304,18.16 20,18.16 L4,18.16 L3.048,18.126 L2,19.174 L2,4 Z\"\/><\/svg><\/span> 22 Comments  <\/span> <\/div><\/div>\n<figure class=\"featured-image\"><picture class=\"featured-image__ratio featured-image-category__postpandemic\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postpandemic-kevin-carmichael.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"featured-image__caption image-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">The COVID-19 pandemic has hit jobs and sectors that historically have fared better during hard economic times. <\/span> <span class=\"credit\">Photo by Peter J. Thompson\/National Post and Getty Images\/National Post photo illustration<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/header>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/postPandemic-LOGO-WEB.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"281\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1200\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p data-async=\"\"><em>After a year of living with COVID-19, Postmedia is taking an in-depth look at the significant social, institutional and economic issues the pandemic has brought to light in Canada \u2014 and more importantly, how we can finally begin to solve them. You can find our complete coverage here.<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\">Statistics Canada recently released its final tally of the economic output of the sports and entertainment industry in 2019. Did we ever have fun, in those pre-pandemic days!<\/p>\n<p>The first championship by Toronto\u2019s National Basketball Association franchise helped push the contribution of \u201cspectator sports, event promoters, artists and related industries\u201d to Canada\u2019s overall gross domestic product (GDP) to $10.5 billion, the most ever.<\/p>\n<p>The fun didn\u2019t last, of course. Kawhi Leonard, the hero of the Raptors\u2019 playoff run, left to play in Los Angeles. Then, in March of 2020, the virus that causes COVID-19 swept into North America, bringing death, economic destruction and an abrupt end to frivolity.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-1\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cYou had to really shake your head and decide how serious is this,\u201d Chris Fowler, chief executive of Edmonton-based Canadian Western Bank, said while reflecting on the early days of the pandemic. \u201cWhen they started to cancel the NHL and the NBA, you were like, \u2018Whoa!\u2019 It punctuated the worry of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It says something about us that the COVID-19 crisis only got real when we were denied access to non-essential pursuits.<\/p>\n<p>Navdeep Bains, the former industry minister who oversaw the gargantuan effort that was required to jumpstart domestic production of masks, ventilators and other essential equipment, said in an interview that the big lesson for him from the past year is \u201cresiliency.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/FP1030-gdp-quarterly-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"997\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1001\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>That\u2019s a polite way of saying that we had grown too comfortable, making us blind to how fragile the economy had become. Our chronically underfunded health-care system was no match for a mysterious and deadly virus. To protect hospitals, we shut down the economy, wiping out a decade\u2019s worth of job growth in a single month. To protect the economy, governments borrowed as if they were fighting a war, which in many ways they were.<\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\">The effort, so far, has gone better than many expected. An epic economic collapse has been partially offset by an almost-as-epic recovery. In January, the Bank of Canada assumed that the second wave of COVID-19 infections would cause GDP to contract again the first three months of 2021. Instead, it looks like the economy grew at an annual rate of around six per cent, according to the Bank of Nova Scotia\u2019s real-time forecast.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-2\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s too soon to draw conclusions from what we\u2019ve been living through for the past year, but it\u2019s clear that some of the most important assumptions we had about the economy need to be reconsidered. The surprising strength of the rebound is the result of adaptation, not necessarily resiliency. If the latter is the goal then changes will be needed.<\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\">At first, we struggled to find masks, medical gowns and other personal protective equipment, and then we found ourselves near the back of the line for vaccines, because we had allowed our manufacturing capacity to erode. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of manufacturing left in Canada,\u201d Greg Hicks, chief executive of Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd., told Bloomberg News in March, a comment on the extent to which we have sacrificed self-sufficiency for cheap goods from Asia, Mexico and the United States.<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s full embrace of the free-trade era, starting with the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement in 1989, contributed to the shrinking of our manufacturing base. The other policy priority from that time \u2014 balanced budgets \u2014 resulted in a strained health system and a safety net so tattered that the federal government felt compelled to send the suddenly unemployed $2,000 cheques and subsidize the payrolls of tens of thousands of companies to keep them from firing people.<\/p>\n<p>It was the right response, but a sign of weakness, not strength. \u201cOur basic needs have to be thought through,\u201d Mark Barrenechea, chief executive of Waterloo, Ont.-based Open Text Inc., one of the country\u2019s biggest digital technology companies, said in an interview.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-3\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>Ali Reyhany, founder and chief executive of Care Pharmacies, a Toronto-based group of independent drug stores, offered a more blunt assessment. \u201cEveryone in the world is looking to solve the same problems,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you take this type of beating, government, and you don\u2019t fix it? I don\u2019t know what to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s GDP shrank 5.4 per cent in 2020, more than in 2009 (the Great Recession) and 1982 (stagflation).<\/p>\n<p>But aggregate numbers like that don\u2019t really tell the story.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/NA1201_ottawa_deficit.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"1361\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1001\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Recessions typically punish goods producers.\u00a0A downturn might prompt automobile makers to idle production, which in turn makes life difficult for their suppliers. But other sectors will muddle through until the economy recovers. Consumers continue to visit hair salons, restaurants and shops, although maybe not as often.<\/p>\n<p>The COVID recession was different. The pandemic flattened restaurants, entertainment and tourism \u2014 corners of the economy that typically avoid the worst when the economic cycle turns. The production side of the economy actually did ok. Agriculture and mining made the list of essential services. Factories and construction sites were permitted to reopen relatively quickly. Meanwhile, accountants, coders, writers and other white-collar service workers simply plugged in from home rather than the office.<\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\">That dynamic caused some perverse outcomes. Consider employment in a category of companies that Statistics Canada calls \u201ccomputer assisted design and related services.\u201d The payrolls of those firms surpassed their pre-pandemic level in September and had increased by more than 13,000 positions as of January.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-4\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>Yet there still were about 373,000 fewer people working at bars and restaurants. The contrast is a miniature portrait of systemic unfairness and inequality that was exposed by the crisis. The hardest hit were also the most vulnerable. Coders and the like earn an average of about $1,700 per week, four times as much as the typical server or bartender makes. Technology industries are dominated by men, while women and younger people make up the majority of workers in frontline services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe exposed all the weaknesses in the economy for women,\u201d said Jennifer Reynolds, president of Toronto Finance International, an agency that promotes Canada\u2019s biggest city as a top banking centre. \u201cCOVID put a spotlight on the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Women-out-of-labour-force.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"983\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>Those fissures informed Ottawa\u2019s response to the crisis. The rescue effort that followed the 2008-09 financial crisis favoured bankers and industrial companies via the bailout of automobile makers and subsidies for construction. This time, households and smaller companies were first in line for help.<\/p>\n<p>The Bank of Canada quickly dropped the interest rate on which commercial banks base their lending to 0.25 per cent, about as close to zero as policy-makers think they can safely go, and used its unique power to create money to become a major buyer of corporate and government bonds, allowing it to put even more downward pressure on the cost of borrowing. Tiff Macklem, the governor, also has indicated that he intends to leave the benchmark interest rate near zero until at least 2023.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-5\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p data-async=\"\">Ultra-low interest rates and a flood of cash risk stoking inflation. It\u2019s a risk Macklem is willing to take for now. He hinted in a speech earlier this year that he thought it might be possible to push the jobless rate lower than its pre-pandemic level of around 5.5 per cent without causing prices to spike. (The jobless rate was 8.2 per cent in February, down from its COVID crisis peak of 13.7 per cent in May.) The experience of other central banks shows prices are more anchored than experts previously thought. That means the central bank can let the economy run hot in order to speed up the recovery and pull those marginalized workers back in the economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going through an incredibly unique economic cycle, like nothing we\u2019ve ever experienced,\u201d Macklem said in an interview. \u201cWe need to both understand how inequality and unevenness is affecting economic outcomes and we have to understand how our policies affect unevenness and inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>We need to both understand how inequality and unevenness is affecting economic outcomes and we have to understand how our policies affect unevenness and inequality<\/p>\n<p>Tiff Macklem, governor, Bank of Canada<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Prime Minister Justin Trudeau\u2019s response was even more extraordinary.<\/p>\n<p>His predecessor, Stephen Harper, showed a certain amount of restraint when he confronted the Great Recession. He did enough, but there was never any doubt that he intended to balance the budget as quickly as possible. He did so, just before losing the 2015 election to Trudeau\u2019s Liberals.<\/p>\n<p>The intellectual consensus about the risk posed by government debt had changed by the time the pandemic forced the closure of the world\u2019s biggest economies. The bias towards prudence shown by countries such as Canada, Germany and the United States a decade ago had come to be seen as the reason the recovery was so frustratingly slow. Some prominent economists had become convinced that governments needn\u2019t worry too much about debt, as long as the economy grows at a rate faster than the cost of borrowing.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-6\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p data-async=\"\">Trudeau took that information and went all-in. The Finance Department reported a deficit of $268.2 billion between April and January, compared with a shortfall of $10.6 billion over the same period a year earlier. Revenue was about 15 per cent lower, while expenditures surged 84 per cent to cover CERB, the wage subsidy and various other patches in the existing safety net.<\/p>\n<p>Net debt was about $993 billion at the end of January, compared with about $721 billion at the end of March 2020, the close of the federal government\u2019s previous fiscal year.<\/p>\n<p>The prospect of a $1-trillion debt makes many people uncomfortable. Fowler of Canadian Western Bank said governments\u2019 current level of borrowing is unsustainable and could require higher taxes to get it under control. His comments show that there are pockets of resistance to the theory that debt can be eroded simply by ensuring that growth is faster than the government\u2019s cost of borrowing.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the Alberta banker stopped short of saying Trudeau was reckless. In fact, the business community, which typically insists on fiscal prudence, is all but universal in its praise of the aggressiveness of the government\u2019s response. Executives have issues with choices and execution, but they aren\u2019t worried about the debt. The history of economic crises, including the Great Depression, shows they were worsened by governments doing too little. For once, authorities opted to err on the side of doing too much.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-7\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p data-async=\"\">\u201cIt was very important for governments to proceed quickly,\u201d Monique Leroux, vice chair at Fiera Capital, a Montreal-based investment firm, said during a virtual conference hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in February. \u201cIf we go back to 2008, it took a while for governments to move forward and it was very difficult. So, I think that part was well done in Canada and in other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>There almost certainly will be unintended consequences, but it\u2019s unlikely that any of them will be worse than the disaster we were facing at this time a year ago. The Toronto Stock Exchange went into Easter weekend at a level that was 60 per cent higher than its pandemic-induced trough. Stock prices reflect a multitude of variables, but an important one is confidence in the future. The markets are telling us that things are better than they feel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn hindsight, we reduced our staff too much,\u201d said Greg Engel, chief executive of Organigram Inc., a Moncton, New Brunswick-based producer of cannabis products. \u201cThe demand continued to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cannabis plants at Organigram's facility in Moncton, N.B.\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0407organigram.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"750\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"image-caption\"><span class=\"caption\"> Cannabis plants at Organigram\u2019s facility in Moncton, N.B.<\/span> <span class=\"credit\">Photo by Ron Ward\/The Canadian Press files<\/span> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Engel started 2020 with a staff of about 800 people. The lockdowns forced Organigram to kill plants because it was effectively impossible to process the harvest. Half the staff accepted voluntary layoffs. In August, the company made half of those departures permanent. The forced stop in the spring had a lasting effect. Demand is worthless without supply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou just can\u2019t flip a switch and start scaling and growing cannabis again,\u201d Engel said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have enough product to package.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-8\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>By December, a new crop of cannabis was ready, although still not enough to keep up with surging orders. Engel started bringing people back, and he\u2019s now restored about 130 of the positions he axed last year, putting Organigram\u2019s headcount at about 600.<\/p>\n<p>However, staffing at Organigram probably won\u2019t grow much higher for now, even though demand remains strong and Engel anticipates it will get even stronger. That\u2019s because the lockdowns forced him and his lieutenants to come up with ways to keep up with orders with fewer people. They added automation and devised more efficient production methods. Those innovations promise to make Organigram more profitable. They\u2019re here to stay.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/SPTSX-april-6.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"955\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1001\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIf there is a positive from COVID, and I don\u2019t want to say there has been a positive because it has had a detrimental impact on the world and on a lot of people, but it did force us to look at efficiency,\u201d Engel said in an interview. \u201cWith fewer people, we are able to get more output within the facility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You want companies to be in good shape once the recovery arrives. The growth that followed the Great Recession disappointed because there were too few companies left standing in the immediate aftermath to take full advantage of the surge in global demand. That might not be as big an issue this time. Insolvencies spiked in 2008 and 2009. In contrast, the bankruptcy rate plunged in 2020, and even though it has picked up this year, it remains well below pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-9\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>But as the example of Organigram shows, a foundation of healthy companies doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that employment will be quickly restored. The crisis has accelerated a shift to a digitally oriented economy that will present employers with opportunities to replace humans with software power by artificial intelligence and various state-of-the-art machines. That means the unemployment rate could remain elevated, which will make it harder for governments to work off their debts.<\/p>\n<p>The fear of being replaced by technology also could add to the anxiety being felt by a labour force that already is coping with high levels of stress and burnout.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"embedded-image\"><picture class=\"embedded-image__ratio\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=564&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1128&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 1200px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=472&amp;type=jpg,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=944&amp;type=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/jpeg\"\/><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288&amp;type=webp,&#10;            https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576&amp;type=webp 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/financialpost.com\/data:,https:\/\/financialpost.com\/1w\" type=\"image\/webp\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"embedded-image__image lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=288,&#10;                https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/post-pandemic-work-from-home-1.png?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=576 2x\" height=\"919\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1001\"\/><\/picture><\/figure>\n<p data-async=\"\">Three million Canadians were working from home in January, according to Statistics Canada. Their bosses might be pleasantly surprised with the results: a third of those workers feel they are more productive, while about 60 per cent say they accomplish just as much at home as they do at the office, the agency said in a study published on April 1.<\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\">However, there\u2019s reason to think that full-time telework is bad for our health. Thirty-five per cent of the new teleworkers have replaced their commutes with longer hours, Statistics Canada said. The extra effort is exacerbating stress levels that were high before the pandemic, and have been pushed even higher by the isolation and strangeness of the past year, Jennifer Moss, author of The Burnout Epidemic, said at a virtual conference hosted by the Conference Board of Canada on April 2.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-10\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s an unfamiliar variable that will affect the recovery. Delvinia, a fast-growing research and data firm in Toronto, was working at 150 per cent capacity at one point last year as companies grasped the importance of digital information. Founder and CEO Adam Froman\u2019s staff struggled to keep up. Some burned out. Some quit. It wasn\u2019t as simple as beefing up mental-health benefits because it was nearly impossible to get an appointment with a psychologist or therapist.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s not about foosball tables anymore, or paid lunches. You need a culture that can survive a pandemic<\/p>\n<p>Adam Froman, founder, chief executive, Delvinia<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cLast year is going to be considered one of the greatest learning years for companies about how to manage, not through a pandemic, but just how to manage,\u201d said Adam Froman, founder and chief executive of Delvinia, a Toronto-based research and data firm. \u201cIt\u2019s not about foosball tables anymore, or paid lunches. You need a culture that can survive a pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>Life-altering moments tend to be followed by significant change. The Second World War showed that government could get things done when it wanted, and politicians used that momentum to put in place many of the programs that we now take for granted. Overreach in the 1970s led to high inflation, high interest rates and high unemployment, setting in motion a partial dismantling of what was built after the war. The Great Recession triggered a new resolve to constrain the biggest banks, which ensured the financial industry had big reserves of cash with which to confront the latest economic crisis.<\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\">COVID-19 will bring similar structural change. Governments won\u2019t have to do all the work. Reyhany, the pharmacist, raised about $40 million by listing his company\u2019s online pharmacy business, Mednow Inc., on the TSX Venture Exchange in early March. The pandemic has made investors keen to get behind both health and technology companies, and Mednow offered exposure to both. Open Text\u2019s Barrenechea said he\u2019s in the process of hiring about 300 people in Canada, and for the first time, location isn\u2019t an issue because the pandemic has shown that companies like his can function without an office. \u201cModern work works,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re embracing it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"ad__section-border article-content__ad-group\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-11\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"article-content__content-group\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Article content<\/h2>\n<p>The other force that will push Canada out of the recession is the response to climate change. Global pledges to neutralize carbon emissions within a few decades have reached a critical mass, and they are increasingly backed by policy, such as a carbon tax in Canada and U.S. President Joe Biden\u2019s decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta. The policies remain controversial, but after a decade of promise, green energy\u2019s moment appears to have arrived. \u201cFor all of these years, we\u2019ve been working so hard, and it\u2019s all coming together now,\u201d said Kirsten Marcia, chief executive of Saskatoon-based Deep Earth Energy Production Corp, which last month completed a successful test of what could be Canada\u2019s first geothermal power project. \u201cThis is our year.\u201d<\/p>\n<section aria-labelledby=\"moreTopicLabel1576712538267370849723631387670942\" class=\"more-topic\" data-carousel-icon-button=\"\" data-carousel-type=\"list\"><button aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"more-topic__button-prev\" data-carousel-prev=\"\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"previous\" type=\"button\"\/><\/p>\n<ol class=\"more-topic__items list-unstyled\" data-carousel-slide-list=\"\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<li class=\"more-topic__item\" data-carousel-item=\"\"><picture class=\"more-topic__item-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"None\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/economy0406.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" height=\"96\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/economy0406.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/economy0406.jpg?h=192&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 2x,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/nationalpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/economy0406.jpg?h=288&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 3x\" width=\"96\"\/><\/picture>\n<h3 class=\"more-topic__item-text\"><span class=\"more-topic__item-text-clamp\"> Optimism over Canada and U.S. economies is overdone: David Rosenberg <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"more-topic__item\" data-carousel-item=\"\"><picture class=\"more-topic__item-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"There was a surge in the level of household savings in 2020, estimated by the Bank of Canada to be about $180 billion, or roughly $5,800 per person.\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cash0401.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" height=\"96\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cash0401.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cash0401.jpg?h=192&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 2x,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cash0401.jpg?h=288&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 3x\" width=\"96\"\/><\/picture>\n<h3 class=\"more-topic__item-text\"><span class=\"more-topic__item-text-clamp\"> TD Bank CEO pushes for policies to spur cash-flush consumers to spend locally <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"more-topic__item\" data-carousel-item=\"\"><picture class=\"more-topic__item-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about his US$2-trillion infrastructure plan during an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 31, 2021.\" class=\"lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0401biden.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" height=\"96\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0401biden.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0401biden.jpg?h=192&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 2x,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/vw0401biden.jpg?h=288&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 3x\" width=\"96\"\/><\/picture>\n<h3 class=\"more-topic__item-text\"><span class=\"more-topic__item-text-clamp\"> Biden\u2019s proposed $2-trillion stimulus will spill over into Canada \u2014 but it could also hurt our competitiveness <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"more-topic__item\" data-carousel-item=\"\"><picture class=\"more-topic__item-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"In February, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said the housing market was showing signs of \" as=\"\" bank=\"\" before.=\"\" cent=\"\" central=\"\" class=\"lazyload\" concern=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/mortgage0331.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80\" estate=\"\" excessive=\"\" exuberance=\"\" first=\"\" from=\"\" had=\"\" height=\"96\" in=\"\" indication=\"\" jumped=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" national=\"\" of=\"\" per=\"\" prices=\"\" real=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/mortgage0331.jpg?h=96&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/mortgage0331.jpg?h=192&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 2x,&#10;                                    https:\/\/smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital\/financialpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/mortgage0331.jpg?h=288&amp;strip=all&amp;quality=80 3x\" the=\"\" width=\"96\" year=\"\"\/><\/picture>\n<h3 class=\"more-topic__item-text\"><span class=\"more-topic__item-text-clamp\"> Mounting debt \u2018worrying\u2019 as Canadians stretch to chase rising home prices, says Bank of Canada governor <\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><button aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"more-topic__button-next\" data-carousel-next=\"\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"next\" type=\"button\"\/><\/section>\n<p>So, the recovery has a tailwind. That means the worst probably is behind us, although a third wave could complicate matters.<\/p>\n<p>But as the economy starts to feel better, it will be important to resist confusing relief with victory. The recession was devastating because we were vulnerable and those vulnerabilities haven\u2019t been fixed. All we\u2019ve done to date is apply very expensive Band-Aids.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat the pandemic did was show all the warts in the system,\u201d said Delvinia\u2019s Froman. \u201cThere was no hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Financial Post<\/em><\/p>\n<p data-async=\"\"><em>\u2022 Email: kcarmichael@postmedia.com | Twitter: <a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" data-evt=\"click\" data-evt-typ=\"User Interaction Click\" data-evt-val=\"{\" control_fields=\"\" source=\"\" type=\"\" name=\"\" target=\"\" url=\"\" vertical=\"\" position=\"\" pixels=\"\" link=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/carmichaelkevin\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">CarmichaelKevin<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"article-content__share-group article-delimiter\" data-evt=\"beforeunload\" data-evt-typ=\"scroll-depth\" data-evt-val=\"{\" control_fields=\"\" of=\"\" page=\"\" viewed=\"\" story=\"\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Share this article in your social network<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<div class=\"article-content__ad-group\">\n<div class=\"ad__section-border ad__section-border--category visually-hidden\">\n<section class=\"ad\">\n<h2 class=\"visually-hidden\">Advertisement<\/h2>\n<div class=\"ad__container\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\" id=\"ad__inner-acceptable\">\n<div class=\"ad__placeholder\">\n<p> This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"widget article-content__widget-group article-content__widget-group--slot1\">\n<section aria-labelledby=\"TheLogic726132674887858772100897466588445\" class=\"feed-section feed-section--partner-story list-widget--partner-story the-logic\" data-async=\"\">\n<div class=\"widget-title widget-title--partner-story flex-align-center row row--no-padding--left row--no-padding--right\">\n<p> In-depth reporting on the innovation economy from The Logic, brought to you in partnership with the Financial Post. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"widget article-content__widget-group article-content__widget-group--slot2\">\n<section aria-labelledby=\"TopStoriesNewsletter2047849862963342692992669313166860\" class=\"newsletter-widget\" data-account-id=\"b9d3df2fccd108b5eff3c44f573b2cd6\" data-target-list=\"FP_HeadlineNews\" data-widget=\"newsletter\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-widget__body\">\n<h2 id=\"TopStoriesNewsletter2047849862963342692992669313166860\">Top Stories Newsletter<\/h2>\n<p class=\"newsletter-widget__text\">Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the Financial Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.<\/p>\n<div aria-hidden=\"false\" class=\"newsletter-widget__bottom js-form-main\">  <small> By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 <\/small> <\/div>\n<div aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"hidden js-submit-success\" id=\"submitSuccessFP_HeadlineNews\">\n<h2 class=\"newsletter__feedback--heading\">Thanks for signing up!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"newsletter-widget__text\">A welcome email is on its way. If you don&#8217;t see it please check your junk folder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-widget__text newsletter__feedback--last\">The next issue of Top Stories Newsletter will soon be in your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"newsletter-widget__text newsletter__feedback--error hidden js-submit-error\" id=\"submitErrorFP_HeadlineNews\"> We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<footer aria-label=\"Article Comments\" class=\"article-footer\">\n<section class=\"comments__section\" id=\"comments\">\n<h3 class=\"widget-title comments-anchor\" id=\"comments-area\">Comments<\/h3>\n<p class=\"comments__section-disclaimer\"> Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications\u2014you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings. <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/>\n<br \/>The pandemic exposed flaws in Canada&#8217;s economic system. Fixing them won&#8217;t be easy<\/a><br \/>\n<br \/>2021-04-07 17:25:22<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breadcrumb Trail Links PostPandemic Economy Kevin Carmichael: All we&#8217;ve done to date is apply very expensive Band-Aids Author of the article: Kevin Carmichael Publishing date: Apr 07, 2021 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 1\u00a0day&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8667,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/8667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}