Canada set records in March and April this year for job losses as COVID-19 forced the economy to shut down and brace for a public health crisis. 

According to Statistics Canada, youth and women were hardest hit by job losses, while the fastest drops in employment rates were in the accommodation and food services sectors. Meanwhile, those who could do their jobs from home experienced relative security. 

As Ontario slowly reopens and some people return to work, economists say the long-term imprint COVID-19 will leave on Canada’s labour market could be stability in industries where remote work is possible, and fewer jobs in the sectors that have already proven vulnerable to the pandemic. 

Brendon Bernard, an economist at employment website Indeed Canada, analyzes Canada's labour market. He's noticed hiring in sectors like health care, food retail, public security and industries, where most employees can work from home — like software development and finance — has held steady compared to the general trend. At the same time, he's observed job seekers increasingly use remote work terms in their search queries.

“Throughout this crisis, there have been some areas of the economy where we’ve seen employer hiring appetite maybe take a bit of a hit, but overall hold up better compared to the broader economy,” he said. “Even with other parts of the economy shutting down, you’ve got jobs that remain at least somewhat in demand.”

Job postings in accommodation, food and service, aviation and custodial services, on the other hand, plummeted as restaurant dining rooms closed, international travel ground to a halt and office towers, schools and government buildings emptied out. 

Bernard said how well and how quickly these sectors recover will depend on how quickly we can neutralize the threat of COVID-19.

“It’s going to be tough for these sectors to really return back to where they were until the public, workers, businesses and governments are all confident that it’s safe to do so again,” he said. “The economic situation is going to be dictated by whether we can get the pandemic under control."

Gordon Betcherman, who teaches labour economics and international development at the University of Ottawa, believes that whether or not sectors like hospitality, entertainment and food and beverage can recover in the near future will depend on the availability of a vaccine for COVID-19.

“If we can all get vaccinated and have many years of immunity, we may not see much of a long-term impact on those sectors,” he said. 

Like Bernard, Betcherman expects to see the most stability in sectors that have already adapted to the pandemic by shifting to a work-from-home model.

This, he said, is partly due to the fact that industries that could were already gradually transitioning to more web-based, remote work, enticed by the cost savings. COVID-19 may only have served to speed up an inevitable process. 

“I think what this crisis is doing on one hand is making it more obvious how we can use technology a lot more in our work,” he said.