This report was published by the Royal Society of Canada.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

Over the past 18 months, the pandemic has not only claimed the lives of millions world-wide, it has also upended nearly every public and private institution around the globe. Healthcare and long-term care were hit especially hard, but so were school systems, with over 90% percent of the world’s 1.6 billion students (along with their caregivers and educators) impacted by school closures. In Canada, all provincial and territorial schools were closed for extended periods at some point during the pandemic, the longest being in Ontario where children and youth were out for more than half of the 2020-2021 academic year.

Established by the President of the Royal Society of Canada in April 2020, the RSC Task Force on COVID-19 was mandated to provide evidence-informed perspectives on major societal challenges in response to and recovery from COVID-19. The Task Force established a series of Working Groups to rapidly develop Policy Briefings, with the objective of supporting policy makers with evidence to inform their decisions.

Read the Executive Summary outlining the 10 recommendations.