In Alberta and across Canada, the economic and labour market impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was felt unevenly across sectors. As traditional in-person activities like shopping, work, and school shifted to the online world, sectors like retail, hospitality, tourism, manufacturing, and construction bore the brunt of that change and were subject to rapid and deep declines in output and employment. Although the digital economy was not completely spared of that disruption in consumer activity and supply chain integrity, by early summer 2020, tech employment and output almost immediately began an upward trajectory.
