Videos and pictures of hundreds of people lined up outside businesses in Ontario in efforts to land jobs have gone viral on social media.
The videos, taken in Waterloo region and other cities, include ones on the social media platform Reddit, where users reported seeing lineups at a Dollar Tree in Windsor in October and a Food Basics in Hamilton in August. Many comments under the posts speculate whether there’s a dire shortage of jobs.
But Mikal Skuterud, a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo and director of the Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), said that’s not the case.
“It’s just noise,” he said while analyzing the latest unemployment numbers from Statistics Canada.
The federal agency’s most recent data on unemployment, from November, shows the unemployment rate for the Kitchener-Waterloo region last month was at 6.1 per cent.
Ever since the rule changed for the [international] students, they are eligible to work full time … and the number of applicants has gone crazy– Manu Bahl, co-owner of an employment agency in Kitchener
That’s slightly higher than October, when it was at 5.7 per cent. And October’s rate is higher than the unemployment rate for September, which was recorded at 5.3 per cent.
“The statistical precision of these estimates is they’re going to bounce around just because there aren’t a lot of folks being sampled in any given month,” Skuterud said.
“Depending on who by random chance are the folks who get sampled in one month, you might get more unemployed people, and in the next month, just by random chance, you get fewer. I would not look at these data and say that there’s any evidence that unemployment rates are increasing in K-W. I don’t see that in this data.”
Social media users have been posting pictures and videos like this of people seen waiting in long lines for work in Kitchener. (u/Anarcho-Warlord on Reddit)
Skuterud said there has actually been a dramatic decline in job vacancies.
“Imagine you’re running a business and you’re selling a good in a market, a product market, whatever it is that good sells for a price,” he said.
“If you’re running a business and you notice suddenly that the price you can charge for the good is increasing really quickly relative to the wage, then you are potentially making more money … If you were using machines and technology to produce with, now you want to rely more on labour [because] it’s cheap relative to everything else.”
He said that’s quickly turning around as the cost of labour catches up with the inflated price of goods and services.
‘Everything in the resumé is a lie’
Vanessa Gale and Manu Bahl are co-owners of New World Momentum, an employment agency in Kitchener.
They said more than 2,500 of the applications they received this year were from international students, making up about 90 per cent of all the applications they’re processing.
“There’s so many people saying they’re going months and months, like some people up to six months, without a job,” Gale said.
“Every day we are getting 10 to 15 refugees or work permit holders along with 10 to 15 students. Ever since the rule changed for the [international] students, they are eligible to work full time … and the number of applicants has gone crazy,” Bahl added.
Bahl and Gale said they’ve also noticed a sharp increase in the number of applicants applying for jobs for which they’re not qualified.
“People will show up with their beautiful resumés saying all good things. That makes us happy for a second, and when you start talking to them, you will get that everything in the resumé is a lie,” Bahl said.
Bahl cited the example of a man who said he had four years of welding experience, then later confessed he had lied during his job interview.
“What we’re hearing from people is they feel they have to have that kind of experience on their resumés,” Gale added. “When we ask people why they do this … they’re saying they just feel like they have to be more competitive because the job market is so tough.”
‘Don’t waste your time’
Ashish Bhatia came to Waterloo as an international student. Today, his Instagram page has more than 27,000 followers asking him for advice on immigrating to Canada.
This video of hundreds of students lined up for a job in Kitchener was posted on Reddit, receiving hundreds of comments and upvotes. (u/MrCrix on Reddit)
Bhatia said he has noticed international students don’t know where to look for jobs.
“They don’t know the resources which they can avail to actually get a job,” he said.
“Let’s say there’s a lineup of 100 people. I’m 100 per cent sure they won’t be hiring all 100 people … So don’t waste your time in places where you know the probability of you getting a job is very less.”
The Morning Edition – K-W10:46Viral videos show long lineups of people waiting to get a job in Waterloo region
You may have seen the viral videos and images by now: hundreds of people lined up with their resumes in hand, waiting to drop their application off all at the same business in K-W. Is there really such a dire shortage of jobs in the region right now? CBC’s Aastha Shetty is taking a closer look.
TORONTO – Canada Goose Holdings Inc. says it has signed a deal that will result in the creation of its first eyewear collection.
The deal announced on Thursday by the Toronto-based luxury apparel company comes in the form of an exclusive, long-term global licensing agreement with Marchon Eyewear Inc.
The terms and value of the agreement were not disclosed, but Marchon produces eyewear for brands including Lacoste, Nike, Calvin Klein, Ferragamo, Longchamp and Zeiss.
Marchon plans to roll out both sunglasses and optical wear under the Canada Goose name next spring, starting in North America.
Canada Goose says the eyewear will be sold through optical retailers, department stores, Canada Goose shops and its website.
Canada Goose CEO Dani Reiss told The Canadian Press in August that he envisioned his company eventually expanding into eyewear and luggage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Almost seven years since news broke of an alleged conspiracy to fix the price of packaged bread across Canada, the saga isn’t over: the Competition Bureau continues to investigate the companies that may have been involved, and two class-action lawsuits continue to work their way through the courts.
Here’s a timeline of key events in the bread price-fixing case.
Oct. 31, 2017: The Competition Bureau says it’s investigating allegations of bread price-fixing and that it was granted search warrants in the case. Several grocers confirm they are co-operating in the probe.
Dec. 19, 2017: Loblaw and George Weston say they participated in an “industry-wide price-fixing arrangement” to raise the price of packaged bread. The companies say they have been co-operating in the Competition Bureau’s investigation since March 2015, when they self-reported to the bureau upon discovering anti-competitive behaviour, and are receiving immunity from prosecution. They announce they are offering $25 gift cards to customers amid the ongoing investigation into alleged bread price-fixing.
Jan. 31, 2018: In court documents, the Competition Bureau says at least $1.50 was added to the price of a loaf of bread between about 2001 and 2016.
Dec. 20, 2019: A class-action lawsuit in a Quebec court against multiple grocers and food companies is certified against a number of companies allegedly involved in bread price-fixing, including Loblaw, George Weston, Metro, Sobeys, Walmart Canada, Canada Bread and Giant Tiger (which have all denied involvement, except for Loblaw and George Weston, which later settled with the plaintiffs).
Dec. 31, 2021: A class-action lawsuit in an Ontario court covering all Canadian residents except those in Quebec who bought packaged bread from a company named in the suit is certified against roughly the same group of companies.
June 21, 2023: Bakery giant Canada Bread Co. is fined $50 million after pleading guilty to four counts of price-fixing under the Competition Act as part of the Competition Bureau’s ongoing investigation.
Oct. 25 2023: Canada Bread files a statement of defence in the Ontario class action denying participating in the alleged conspiracy and saying any anti-competitive behaviour it participated in was at the direction and to the benefit of its then-majority owner Maple Leaf Foods, which is not a defendant in the case (neither is its current owner Grupo Bimbo). Maple Leaf calls Canada Bread’s accusations “baseless.”
Dec. 20, 2023: Metro files new documents in the Ontario class action accusing Loblaw and its parent company George Weston of conspiring to implicate it in the alleged scheme, denying involvement. Sobeys has made a similar claim. The two companies deny the allegations.
July 25, 2024: Loblaw and George Weston say they agreed to pay a combined $500 million to settle both the Ontario and Quebec class-action lawsuits. Loblaw’s share of the settlement includes a $96-million credit for the gift cards it gave out years earlier.
Sept. 12, 2024: Canada Bread files new documents in Ontario court as part of the class action, claiming Maple Leaf used it as a “shield” to avoid liability in the alleged scheme. Maple Leaf was a majority shareholder of Canada Bread until 2014, and the company claims it’s liable for any price-fixing activity. Maple Leaf refutes the claims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:L, TSX:MFI, TSX:MRU, TSX:EMP.A, TSX:WN)
TORONTO – TD Bank Group, which is mired in a money laundering scandal in the U.S., says chief executive Bharat Masrani will retire next year.
Masrani, who will retire officially on April 10, 2025, says the bank’s, “anti-money laundering challenges,” took place on his watch and he takes full responsibility.
The bank named Raymond Chun, TD’s group head, Canadian personal banking, as his successor.
As part of a transition plan, Chun will become chief operating officer on Nov. 1 before taking over the top job when Masrani steps down at the bank’s annual meeting next year.
TD also announced that Riaz Ahmed, group head, wholesale banking and president and CEO of TD Securities, will retire at the end of January 2025.
TD has taken billions in charges related to ongoing U.S. investigations into the failure of its anti-money laundering program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
