The public sector made up 86.7% of jobs created in Canada since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to a study done by the Fraser Institute. .“The government sector, not the private sector, is driving job creation in Canada since the onset of the COVID pandemic and recession,” said Fraser Institute senior fellow and study co-author Ben Eisen in a Thursday press release. .This study examined labour market statistics between February 2020 and July 2022. It found jobs in the public sector increased by 9.4% net, but the private sector, including self-employment, saw .4% in growth. .While the government sector added 366,800 net jobs during this period, the private sector gained 56,100 positions. .The release said the share of adults employed in the private sector fell from 49.3% to 48.2%. .The Fraser Institute said it's concerned about self-employment being wiped out. It said 214,400 self-employed net jobs have been lost since the pandemic began. .“Many of the headline statistics surrounding the Canadian labour market appear encouraging at a glance, but the reality is more complicated,” said Eisen. .“Canada’s job creation in recent years has not been driven by private sector-growth, but rather has primarily been the result of government hiring.”.The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released a report in January showing 528,347 federal and provincial government employees received a pay raise during the pandemic..READ MORE: CTF: 528,000 government workers got pay rai$e$ during pandemic.Not a single government within Canada lowered staff wages..“We’ve seen a tale of two pandemics: One full of private sector pain and the other full of financial gain for bureaucrats and politicians,” said CTF federal director Franco Terrazzano.
