Canadian public sector jobs increased by 13 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic while the private and self-employed sectors saw just 3.6 percent growth, says a new report.
“Canada’s net job creation in recent years has been disproportionately driven by growth in government employment rather than growth in the private sector,” said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of the report.
Titled Economic Recovery in Canada before and after COVID: Job Growth in the Government and Private Sectors, the think tank report looks at the rate of net job creation in the government and private (including self-employed) sectors from 2019 to 2023.
Eisen and co-author Milagros Palacios said government employment as a share of total employment is at its highest point since the 1990s and that public sector job growth has “dramatically outstripped” its private sector counterpart in recent years….