Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome, Mr. Page, and others.
I have a question on employment. Some have said recently that Canada has not fully recovered the levels of employment as compared to other countries. I hope that what you say here in your report, “Assessment of Canada's Labour Market Performance”, will put to bed any concerns on that front.
First, on page two of the report, you say:
After declining 2.5 per cent in the recent recession, employment in Canada is currently 2.3 per cent above its pre-recession peak from October 2008. The level of employment is now 4.9 per cent above its recessionary trough from July 2009, an increase of over 820,000 net new jobs.
Second, on pages 19 and 20, you say:
Our analysis also suggests that the recession of 2008-09 was comparatively milder relative to other downturns in Canada during the 1980s and 1990s.... Looking internationally, Canada's labour market is currently significantly outperforming some countries with struggling economies, (e.g.the U.S.,and Euro area) and Canada also scores above average among G7 and OECD countries.
Could you elaborate on Canada's employment performance and how we compare to other OECD countries?