A Disease Without Borders: Canada’s Contributions to global COVID-19 recovery

Syrian Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Athens, Greece by Julie Ricard is licensed under Unsplash.

The second wave of COVID-19 infections has marked a regression to the chaos of the first wave for much of Canada. By late September 2020, hotspots like Montreal announced a 28-day shut down due to COVID-19’s second wave. Even in the country's safer areas, the risks have been growing. Following a high of 2760 daily cases on May 2nd, 2020, Canada is experiencing a second wave, with cases reaching over 4600 per day in November. In many provinces, retailers, gyms, and other republic gathering places have had to close or restrict services in accordance with public health guidelines, impacting revenues and overall economic health. Canada, however, has been one of the few countries around the globe, including the United States and many European nations, whose governments could afford to invest in economic stimulus and COVID-19 research. As of November 10th, 2020 $81.64 billion was spent as part of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, and more than $214 million on Canadian vaccine development.  

Other countries have been less fortunate. When ventilators can cost as much as $50 000, many governments have trouble supplying their medical professionals with the necessary materials. Ill-equipped hospitals in the Caribbean staggered under the load of second-wave patients. Additionally, people living in impermanent housing struggle with accessing basic infrastructure. While summer brought respite for those Canadians who could distance themselves outdoors, displaced persons in crowded refugee camps around the Mediterranean were as vulnerable as ever. In developing nations, the need for foreign aid has never been greater. Reports from the UN and the World Bank made it clear that dozens of nations’ economic and public health setbacks required a global response. And as a partner in trade and international politics with many of these nations, Canada has a duty to help.

Canadian International Leadership

On September 29th, 2020, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karina Gould announced the government’s decision to pledge an additional $400 million to COVID-19 mitigation efforts in the world’s hardest-hit countries. “Canada believes that a strong, coordinated response across the world and across sectors is essential. This pandemic has provided an opportunity for a reset,” said Prime Minister Trudeau. Canada, he explained, was ready to play a part in helping other countries rebuild their economies into more stable, sustainable versions of their former selves.

World leaders and journalists have been calling for such measures from Canada and other wealthy nations including the U.S. and the U.K. since the spring of 2020. Compared to the contributions of other nations, Canada’s foreign aid budget is dismal. On average, the UK spends double on foreign aid compared to Canada, while Denmark contributes five times that, relative to their respective  Gross National Incomes. During the 1980 Pearson Commission, Canada, along with other Western nations, committed to an annual foreign aid budget of 0.7% of Gross National Income (GNI) but has since spent no more than 0.25% per year. 

Impacts of Foreign Aid

Canada’s contributions to the global fight against COVID-19, which now total more than $579 million, are a needed addition. “These investments come at a critical moment,” said Nicholas Moyer, chief executive of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. $220 million of Canada’s contribution will go toward the COVID-19 Global Access Facility or COVAX (a vaccine development accelerator). COVAX and the CCIC aim to ensure low and middle-income countries will have  access to vaccine doses when they become available.

The rest of the money from this recent $400 million allotment will be allocated to international aid organizations that tackle the fallout of COVID-19 across different sectors, including those which fight homelessness, hunger, and poor sanitation relating to the fallout from COVID-19. And there is no shortage of work to be done. Though the last twenty years have seen records broken in the percentage of children in school globally, the number of people pulled out of extreme poverty, and access to basic healthcare such as family planning and vaccinations, the pandemic has undone much of that work, according to Lindsay Glassco, president of Plan International Canada.

A report from the World Bank highlighted dramatic rises in global averages for poverty, food insecurity,  and children out of school since the pandemic took hold in March. For the first time since 1998, global poverty rates have increased. Over 100 million people have pushed beyond the $5.50 per day poverty line, with another 49 million now living on less than $1.90 per day.  

According to the World Bank, The state of education has deteriorated as well. While  90% of the world’s students are currently out of the classroom, the impacts of lockdown measures are felt the worst in developing nations, where less than half of people have in-home internet access. While most students in North America and  Europe were able to adapt to online schooling, albeit with notable challenges for students in rural areas, the pandemic has entirely halted the education of millions of children across the globe, and there’s no telling if they will ever go back. In many regions, students who are kept out of school for extended periods of time enter the workforce to support their families and never re-enter the education system, while those who do often see lower graduation rates and worse academic performance. It goes on to warn that “there is a high risk that national, regional and global progress towards [UN] Sustainable Development Goal 4 on education will be reversed as a consequence of the pandemic.” This backtracking threatens the future of economies across the globe; on average, the longer students stay in school, the higher their income and quality of life as adults. If segments of an entire generation miss out on an education, it could take generations to recover.

Budgetary Implications of Increased Foreign Aid Spending

Still, some worry that Canada’s foreign aid expenditures are fiscally irresponsible at a time when this year’s deficit sits at $343 billion, with Canada’s accumulated debt reaching more than $1 trillion for the first time in history—a number experts have called “economically unsustainable” after two to three years.

Though there is reason to worry about Canadian debt, including the potential for higher taxes and a weaker Canadian dollar, the foreign aid budget is likely a misidentified target. The $500 million Canada has put on the table represents less than 1% of its total deficit. As long as Canada’s foreign spending continues on the current trajectory, it is not likely to jeopardize the country’s future.

Governments worldwide have recognized this global threat, and increased foreign aid, on the part of Canada and others, is the first step towards a solution. No country is safe from the effects of the pandemic. Gould put it plainly: “the COVID-19 virus knows no borders.” In a globally connected economy where international travel and trade is the norm, the health impacts of this virus and the economic impacts of its fallout have shaken communities from every country, regardless of whether their new daily cases are in the tens or the thousands. 

With the cases of COVID-19 continuing to grow in many countries, including Canada, it is unclear what the human and economic toll will be. Though all countries are navigating the same storm, each one is doing so in boats of varying strengths and sizes. But no matter the strength or wealth of a nation, COVID-19 recovery is a global challenge that requires global solutions.