Premier Kenney Predicts 25 Percent Unemployment in Alberta Due to COVID-19

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney updates media on measures taken to help with COVID-19, in Edmonton on Friday, March 20, 2020. Jason Franson/The Canadian Press

EDMONTON—Premier Jason Kenney says while Alberta has the medical capacity to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic impact will be crippling.

“I fully expect unemployment in Alberta to be at least 25 percent—at least half a million unemployed Albertans—and it could be significantly higher than that,” Kenney told an online conference of oil and gas leaders Tuesday.