Publications

Canada’s Employment Insurance (EI) program is falling short. Over the past year, the shortcomings of the program have become all the more clear. EI needs to be reformed to match the current reality of the world of work. Read our recommendations for EI reform here.

Canada’s unions applaud Parliament’s recognition that the Chinese government is committing genocide against its Muslim minority and is now calling on Ottawa to act accordingly. The Government of Canada should now move to officially recognize the genocide and implement the recommendations of the Subcommittee of International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (SDIR). Witnesses…

Canada’s unions are marking Pink Shirt Day by calling on the federal government to ratify ILO Convention 190, a global convention to end all violence and harassment at work, including gender-based violence. Although Canada adopted Convention 190 in 2019, the federal government has yet to ratify the convention, which would turn the global treaty into law. Pink Shirt Day is…

Canada’s unions welcome the extension to income supports announced by the federal government today as a necessary step towards providing further financial security to those who need it. The government announced 12-week extensions for both the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) and the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), as well as an additional 24 weeks of eligibility for Employment Insurance. “This will…

By Hassan Yussuff, Doug Roth, Linda Silas, as published in Toronto Star   A silent health crisis is looming as more people struggle to pay for their prescription drugs. Even before the pandemic, the statistics were staggering. About 7.5 million citizens—one in five Canadians—either did not have prescription drug insurance or had inadequate insurance to cover their medication needs. One…

Canada’s unions are calling on the federal government to extend income support for unemployed workers until at least the end of 2021 or they will soon face a ‘benefits cliff’. The numbers of workers who are currently facing the prospect of an end to their benefits this March are staggering: 844,000 workers were receiving the Canada Recovery Benefit in late…

Heart & Stroke, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) have teamed up to raise the urgency of a national pharmacare plan. The groups have launched a campaign calling on Canadians to tell the federal government that Canada deserves #PharmacareNow. Heart & Stroke, CLC and CFNU are working together for the first time around a shared…

OTTAWA – Canada’s unions are urgently calling on the federal government to extend EI and recovery benefits along with increasing support for skills retraining as workers continue to struggle with rising unemployment. Following higher than expected job losses at the end of 2020, workers faced another large drop in employment, with 213,000 jobs lost last month. “We’ve lost the small…

OTTAWA – Canada’s unions welcome today’s announcement by the federal government that it has added four violent, far-right extremist groups to its list of terrorist organizations. The Proud Boys, the Base, Atomwaffen, and the Russian Imperial Movement have been listed as terrorist entities. This means that these groups can no longer raise money or organize. “These groups are a direct…

Canada’s unions welcome the joint declaration made by Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers responsible for the Status of Women for a Canada free of gender-based violence. The declaration reinforces the right to live free from violence and the need for concrete efforts to address and prevent all forms of gender-based violence. It also sets out a common vision, principles, goals…

Canada’s unions are marking Black History Month by calling for an end to systemic anti-Black racism. This includes urging the federal government to disaster-proof Canada’s social safety net to ensure a COVID-19 response and recovery that is rooted in racial justice. “This is a time of reckoning,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “The double crisis of…