Ken Boessenkool is a public-policy economist with a long history in Canadian politics.

Some of the facts marking the COVID-19 economic recession as unique are becoming clearer. Unlike past recessions, where job losses were concentrated in manufacturing and construction and most of the unemployed were men, this recession is concentrated in the service sector, and most of the unemployed are women. The only way in which this recession mirrors others is in the concentration of deleterious effects on low-income Canadians.