Windsor has the highest unemployment rate in the country as the Canadian economy lost almost two million jobs in April.
Statistics Canada reports the unemployment rate in our region stood at 12.9 per cent in April.
Overall, the unemployment rate in our country soared to 13.0 per cent in April, compared with 7.8 per cent in March.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says there is no doubt that we have a difficult few months ahead.
"What I'm really hopeful for is that in the months ahead as firms start to tentatively reopen their operations, that we can slowly get back. But we know that many sectors are going to face a longer term struggle here, I'm thinking of Caesars and tourism and hospitality specifically.")
Dilkens says he is working to lay the groundwork for an economic recovery.
"My office is in contact on a weekly basis minimum, sometimes more, with both provincial and federal leaders. One of the things I did a few weeks a go, I had a conversation with Minister Fedeli, the Minister of Economic Development and I said 'You know Vic, you really need to look at getting auto dealers open again.' "
Expandig on that, Dilkens believes one key to getting people back to work will be opening car dealerships.
"If you want manufacturers to start, they want to start, too, but you don't want to have this big bottleneck of inventory sitting on lots where there's no real reason for them to produce," he says. "They took that back and they said there are dealers with 3,000 square foot showrooms, surly they can work out a scheme to make sure they can protect people that are coming into the dealership who want to buy a car."
The loss of 1,993,800 jobs comes on top of more than one million jobs lost in March for the second highest unemployment rate on record.
Economists on average had expected the loss of four million jobs and an unemployment rate of 18 per cent, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.