Ottawa signals end is near for pandemic supports for businesses
to emerge, and governments to react with new lockdowns and compensatory financial aid for businesses and workers.“It feels like they’re done,” said Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which lobbies on behalf of 95,000 small and medium-sized businesses.
Mikal Skuterud, an economics professor at the University of Waterloo, said there is little evidence of a correlation between the introduction of the hiring programs and changes in the labour market. Prof. Skuterud said operating a business has always been a risky endeavour, and that a healthy economy includes businesses opening and closing all the time. It may be time for the government to start letting businesses fail, he said, even though it may not be politically popular.