inflation change materially, the conditional commitment would change. the only constant is that the bank will consistently set monetary policy appropriately in order to achieve the inflation target. conclusion to conclude, one lesson should be clear : policy matters. aggressive policies arrested the economic free fall triggered by the financial crisis. policy action is driving the initial recovery. policy - makers will have to act deftly to maintain stimulus long enough for private demand to take up the burden of growth, but not too long to undermine confidence in and the sustainability of that growth. even once that feat is accomplished, the aftermath of the crisis will make considerable demands on structural policies in all countries, including canada. recent events were a watershed. a powerful and sustained restructuring of the global economy has begun. canada is entering this period with many strengths, but the efforts required of us will be historic. our businesses will need to develop new markets as the traditional advantage of relatively open access to u. s. markets becomes less valuable. the bank of canada will continue to review, reflect, and report on the broader global forces i have outlined today. as i have reaffirmed, our principal contribution will be to consistently achieve our inflation target, so canadians can plan and invest with confidence.

required close contact with people - mainly in the services sector - were shut down. that disproportionately affected youth, women and low - wage workers. the closure of schools and daycare centres also hit women harder, and they experienced a larger decline in both hours worked and their participation rate. never before has so much of the economy been shut down, so suddenly and for so long. but thanks to new vaccines and exceptional fiscal and monetary policies, the recovery was the fastest ever. by august, four months after the employment lows of april, nearly two - thirds of canadian job losses were recouped. but with repeated waves of the virus hitting the economy, it took more than another year for employment to get back to its pre - pandemic level. still, that pace of recovery is unheard of, far faster than in past recessions. what was behind the rapid recovery? part of it was because the recession came from an unprecedented event - the pandemic - driven shutdown of large parts of the economyand not from imbalances or structural problems in the economy. that meant that when the economy reopened, employment could be restored quickly. we expected a rapid rebound in employment with reopening, but we were concerned too many people would 2 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches be left behind. we are still learning about the longer - term effects of the pandemic, but the scarring we were worried about wasn't as pervasive as we had feared. economic growth came roaring back quickly, and workers did not remain on the sidelines for long. the coordinated policy response of governments and central banks around the world played an important role in supporting the recovery. in canada, fiscal policies were designed to help keep workers attached to their employers and businesses afloat even with little money coming in. that limited damage to the labour market. our monetary policy actions complemented these fiscal policies. we cut policy interest rates and introduced quantitative easing to reduce borrowing costs. this supported spending and demand and helped restore employment. the reopening of schools and child care centres was as essential for parents as it was for children. as schools returned to in - class teaching, mothers came back to work, and the labour market participation of women bounced back to where it was before covid19 hit. by october 2021, canadian employment was above its pre - pandemic level, but the recovery was still uneven. sectors such as professional services, public administration and