The City of Edmonton’s Community and Recreation branch and Edmonton Public Library issued more than 2,000 layoff notices to employees Monday morning after extended closures were put in place to halt the spread of COVID-19.
Interim city manager Adam Laughlin and EPL CEO Pilar Martinez confirmed the decision during a news conference Monday afternoon. “For quite some time we’ve talked about how COVID-19 is taking a terrible toll on our city, our public health, city services and the economy,” Laughlin said, clearly emotional. “Today it is having an impact on the jobs of 1,600 people,” he said.
Not all city employees have been affected — 400 people were not laid off, said Laughin, continuing work at locations such as cemetery services, animal