Toronto, Ontario — The pandemic has spurred Canadian unemployment and, according to a report from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants, new car dealerships were among the hardest hit in Canada’s automotive sector, with employment down by 38 percent from 2019.
Vehicle manufacturing employment also fell an average of 20.5 percent in the first half of 2020, and as much as 30.7 percent in May.
Automotive repair and maintenance facility employment rates were also down 24.5 percent in April, losing more than 27,000 jobs, and auto parts and accessory store states fell 19.4 percent.
June, however, marked a step forward, with the industry gaining 69,000 in May, though stats still sat far below 2019’s levels.
Last week, Statistics Canada reported that overall unemployment fell 0.7 percent in August to 10.2 percent—a marked improvement from the record 13.7 percent set in May 2020.
