According to Karen Chapple, who is one of the co-authors of the study and who directs the School of Cities at the University of Toronto, Canada has been slower to recover from COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions.
People stopped going out during the first wave of the Omicron variant, which delayed the return to business, she explains.
The only Canadian exception is the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which recovered 72% of its mobile business this year compared to 2019.
Halifax is the city that has returned closest to normal. We think it's because of all the new residents moving in. Many work from home but live downtown, notes Karen Chapple.
According to her, Toronto can be compared to New York City, which however rebounded much faster and regained 78% of its pre-pandemic activity this year.
Downtown Toronto has a lot of law firm and insurance company employees, who don't necessarily have to return to the office, Ms. Chapple said. New York has a much more diverse economy, and I think that's one of the biggest takeaways, she says.
Read the full article here: Saxon - "The resumption of activity is slow in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, according to a study | Coronavirus: Ontario"