Canadian women have long suffered the professional and financial consequences of COVID-19, but new research indicates that this impact could be long-lasting.

According to a study published by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on Thursday, almost half a million women that had lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic have been unable to re-enter the workforce as of January.

Women of colour, immigrants, young professionals, new mothers, and those working in hard-hit industries like hospitality and food services are at a higher risk of experiencing job loss, RBC economists Dawn Desjardins and Carrie Freestone said.

Gen Z women, for instance, made up for 17% of the total decline in employment between February 2020 and January 2021, while only accounting for 2.5% of the Canadian workforce.

However, as COVID-19 continues to alter the fabric of society and the way businesses operate — many companies have been forced to close, downsize, or undergo some form of transition due to the pandemic — experts argue that women could be pushed out of the workforce permanently.

In particular, companies that have learned to rely on understaffed teams may not be incentivized to re-hire in the future, causing certain jobs to be scrapped altogether, according to the report.

To help rebalance the scales, the Canadian government has introduced a series of relief measures, both at the provincial and federal levels.

These include an allocation of $1.5 billion to help provinces map out training and skill-sharing programs, as well financial support to Canadians who are directly impacted by COVID-19 through the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) subsidy.

In the long run, experts contend that including women in recovery plans and ensuring that they are able to return to work would not only lift them out of poverty but would also benefit the Canadian economy as a whole.

Read the full article about women in the workforce amid COVID-19 by Sarah El Gharib at Global Citizen.