In what will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who was financially scewed by the lockdowns and the mass business closures it spurred, the majority of people in Ontario have in recent months picked up a side hustle or two in order to make ends meet.

things I miss about the GTA, enjoyed for the five seconds I’m in Canada:
-desi style pizza
-burrito boyz
-oh henry
-better sushi
-everyone and their mothers literally on their Instagram side hustle cricut shit

— SMASHING POOMKINS (@poon4m) June 21, 2021

New data from Abacus Data on healf of the Direct Sellers Association of Canada (DSA) examined the growing phenomenon nationwide of the freelance and gig enocomy, as well as and other types of secondary career endeavours, as a result of the lockdowns.

The results, which the firms call "intriguing," show that while 31 per cent of citizens pursued opportunities for additional income outside their usual job over the course of the health crisis — whether by necessity, for some extra cash, to stay busy or for fun — 60 per cent plan to do so moving forward for at least the next year.

DSA Canada Study Shows 3 in 5 Canadians Seeking Side Hustle https://t.co/OoD7vuRlRJ pic.twitter.com/yaa6lKjUAY

— Stephan Iscoe (@stephaniscoe) August 26, 2021

The largest group who currently have a side hustle or who are planning on picking one up are, you guessed it, young adults aged 18-29 (75 per cent) and students (83 per cent).

Though the findings are in consideration of the pandemic specifically, they also give some insight into the times, with many young people in expensive cities like Toronto struggling to afford to live here with standard pay of one form of employment alone even before the lockdowns struck.

Today I made 85$ in just under 90 mins by price checking dog and cat food.

I wish Canada had more side hustle opportunities. I would do this every weekend.

— jess gravel 🌙🖤 (@jessica_gravel) August 7, 2021

There is also the fact that people are perhaps now more than ever reconsidering their vocations and lives in general after a hectic, unanticipated and devastating 17 months that upended us all.