Published Monday, September 9, 2019 4:33AM EDT
The late-March briefing note shows officials at Employment and Social Development Canada were looking for alternatives. What makes measuring the size of the gig economy so difficult is that there are competing definitions of what it includes. ESDC officials leaned on an American definition that described gig workers as those who take short work or tasks through websites or mobile apps that arrange payment and connect them directly to consumers.
What to do beyond election day has engrossed federal officials from multiple departments, who have tested worst-case scenarios and a range of possible policy responses. The briefing note, sent to a handful of top ESDC officials, lamented that the "available evidence about the incidence and quality of online platform work, in Canada and abroad, is currently quite limited, impeding the provision of policy advice."