In Canada, an estimated 3 million workers are employed in paid care occupations, amounting to nearly 1 in 5 workers. Most of these workers are women, and are often racialized and newcomer women.

“Our jobs, our families and our economy depend on having our care needs met. We know how crucial these services and caregivers are; from supporting our seniors and our children, to ensuring people living with disabilities can live dignified lives, and more,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “For too long, political leaders and Canadian society have taken both paid and unpaid care work for granted. As a result, much of this work—largely performed by women—remains precarious and undervalued, while those who perform it are at constant risk of violence and harassment.”

“Care workers have shared countless stories of overwork and burnout, low wages, and inadequate working conditions. It’s pushing people out of these sectors, and as more workers leave these problems will only deepen. We must confront this crisis now by boosting wages as a first step, and by developing an integrated care workforce strategy for the long term,” said Siobhán Vipond, CLC Executive Vice-President.

“Care workers deserve better, and so do the people they care for,” said Bruske. “Care work should be rewarded appropriately—with better pay that reflects the value of their work; with good, stable jobs; and with safe and healthy working conditions. Building a better care workforce will ensure that everyone has access to care if or when they need it.”

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33 years after the École Polytechnique attack, the CLC’s National Survey on Harassment and Violence at Work exposed the unnerving reality that gender-based harassment and violence remain a persistent threat to workers. The survey also found that third-party violence (from customers, clients, patients and others) accounts for 1 in 3 of these incidents and is a particular threat to women and gender-diverse workers who are more frequently employed in public-facing jobs.

“We hear heartbreaking stories from workers of harassment and violence from members of the public, their patients, or clients,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “And even more devastating, every year workers in Canada are murdered at work due to rising rates of third-party violence fuelled by misogyny, racism, transphobia, and homophobia. We know that third-party violence is a significant and sometimes deadly threat to workers, yet existing legislation on workplace health and safety does not adequately cover it.”

Inaction can be deadly. In 2019, Deborah Onwu, a youth social worker was killed while caring for a client. In 2021, Julia Ferguson, was murdered at the law firm she worked at. In 2022, Harmandeep Kaur was murdered while working as a security guard on the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan campus. The murder of these three women is a stark reminder of how much work we have yet to do to address gender-based violence and harassment at work and the continued threat of third-party violence.

“We need a gender-responsive and intersectional approach to tackling third-party violence and we can find that approach in International Labour Convention 190 (C‑190),” said CLC President Bea Bruske. “While the Canadian government has taken the first steps to ratify C-190, we need a plan to implement it properly and workers’ voices need to be at the centre of that plan. Labour is ready to do our part, but we cannot do it alone. Governments and employers must work with us to address third‑party violence and its disproportionate impact on women and gender-diverse workers.”

That is why, during this year’s 16 Days of activism, the CLC is calling on the government to bring other levels of governments, unions and workers together for a tripartite summit to examine the issue of third-party violence, its impact on women and gender-diverse workers, and to formulate a plan for addressing this urgent issue as a key step toward implementing C-190. Refusing to act is not an option as workers continue to face life-threatening incidents of harassment and violence at work.

“Together we can make work safer and say Never Again to gender-based violence.”

Read more about third-party violence at work and its impacts on women, two-spirit, trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming workers in this statement by labour leaders.

To read the results on the National Survey on Harassment and Violence at work click here.

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“The global care economy is in crisis. Here in Canada, underfunding, privatization and a lack of resources and supports for care workers has led to critical understaffing,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Each of us will need care at some point in our lives, but the shameful undervaluing of care workers – who are mostly women – has brought our care systems to the brink of collapse. Care workers are there for us during some of our most vulnerable moments, so we must support them in demanding better. Governments can’t claim to want to achieve pay equity while simultaneously ignoring the care crisis.”

In Canada, care jobs employ roughly one fifth of all workers, with women occupying 75% of those positions. Canada benefits greatly from both paid and unpaid care, with these services contributing tens of billions of dollars to the country’s economy. But successive rounds of cuts and concerted efforts at privatizing services have created a patchwork system, which is struggling under the weight of chronic underfunding and now, a global pandemic.

Meanwhile unpaid care, which is most often done by women, can impact women’s participation in the job market. Care responsibilities can significantly hinder a woman’s ability to access and maintain a good, stable job with decent pay.

Canada’s unions recently launched Show We Care, a national campaign aimed at raising the profile of care workers in Canada and addressing the mounting care crisis.

In Canada, it is estimated that the increased demands for care driven by the ageing population will add $93 billion to health care costs by 2028. And yet, according to the OECD, Canada falls near the bottom among wealthy countries in public expenditure on social services. The tragic losses of life in for-profit long-term care homes point to the failures of the private, for-profit model. These institutions have less staff, fewer hours of care per resident, more complaints from residents and family, more acute care hospital admissions, and higher mortality rates than public long-term care homes.

“Chronic underfunding has led to an erosion of available care, which has drastically increased the cost of care services. In addition to insufficient wages, poor working conditions, lack of support for workers, and harassment and violence in the workplace are driving workers out of the care sector,” said Siobhán Vipond, Executive Vice President of the CLC “To mark International Equal Pay Day, Canada’s unions are calling on our federal government to make immediate investments across all care sectors, to lift wages for underpaid care workers and ensure good jobs that result in high quality care for people in Canada and their families.”

International Equal Pay Day – marked annually on September 18 – was created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 and first marked in 2020.

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The economic fallout of COVID-19 is stark – and women are feeling the brunt of it.

Over 1.5 million women lost jobs over March and April, according to Statistics Canada. That’s a 17% drop in employment levels since February. Even with workplaces and services beginning to reopen, families will struggle to return to work without adequate child care in place.

Advocates, employers and policymakers alike fear that the burden of care will fall on women.

With Canadian women typically contributing about 40% of household income, there can be no full economic recovery without what economist Armine Yalnizyan has dubbed a “she-covery”.

Child care is key to making that possible.

It’s become clear that child care is a vital part of social infrastructure. Without child care, workers in women-dominated sectors that keep us healthy, safe and fed could not keep operating. This is why we saw several jurisdictions move quickly to make child care available to essential workers as a central component of their response efforts.

But that temporary solution is a far cry from what’s actually needed to address the gaping holes in a severely underfunded and fragmented system. It’s a system in which child care costs far too much for many families, and even when affordable, is highly competitive – sometimes with three or more children to every one licenced space.

As we begin to shape the new normal, child care must be at the heart of the post-COVID economy. Child care encourages participation in the labour market and is also an important source of employment for women – an economic driver in and of itself.

Investments in the care economy will largely pay for themselves as middle class families engage in greater labour-market participation, higher productivity, rising incomes, and increased tax revenue.

The federal government has the opportunity to spearhead a comprehensive pan-Canadian effort to build back better in the child care sector. Such a sector would ensure children have access to safe early learning and care and that parents are able to return to the paid labour force with relatively little worry.

In the short-term, the government will have to work with the provinces and territories to provide immediate funds to stabilize existing child care infrastructure.

The federal government has already committed to establishing a Federal Child Care Secretariat in order to help strengthen Canada’s social infrastructure.

The Secretariat will play a fundamental role in the reconstruction process, which will require long-term commitment and teamwork.

The Secretariat will also need to develop a workforce strategy to raise the quality of early learning in child care, improve working conditions for early childhood educators and oversee the expansion of the system.

Through collaboration, creativity and trust, we can take meaningful steps forward to ensure a robust economic recovery for all.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff
Goldy Hyder is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Business Council

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Although there is still much we do not know about this tragedy, now the deadliest massacre in Canadian history, it has come to light that the killer began his shooting spree by assaulting his intimate partner.

Women’s shelters in Nova Scotia and across the country have called on the media and police to call the recent massacre what it is: an act of gender-based violence.

“We must acknowledge that these murders were rooted in misogyny,” said Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress. “They are not ‘senseless,’ ‘random’ or ‘isolated’. They are part of the nationwide crisis of violence against women. It is the same crisis that sees a woman or girl killed every three days in this country.”

Research shows that in the majority of mass shootings there is a history of domestic violence. Misogyny was also at the root of Canada’s other deadliest killings: the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal and the 2018 Toronto van attack.

While misogynist violence can touch any woman, some groups of women are impacted disproportionately: Indigenous women, young women, women with disabilities, and trans women and non-binary folk all experience higher rates of domestic violence.

Other groups of women face barriers to support and to accessing justice. Black and Indigenous women, refugees and migrant women, and trans women may be reluctant to seek the support of police or social services because these systems may expose them to other forms of structural violence and discrimination. Accessible services are difficult to find for deaf women and women with disabilities. Few such services exist in rural and remote communities.

“This pandemic, along with the public health recommendation to stay at home has put women further at risk,” said Clarke Walker. “Canada’s unions applaud governments’ efforts to ensure that shelters and other support providers have the resources they need to manage an increase in demand and to assist women whose homes are not safe.”

Over the last five years, the Canadian labour movement successfully fought for and won paid domestic violence leave both federally and in the vast majority of provinces and territories. Now, we must go further.

Canada needs a National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Girls. A Plan would help plug the gaps in anti-violence services while establishing clear targets for progress and ensuring consistency across and within jurisdictions. Although the federal government has signaled its intent to develop a Plan, it needs to establish the funding and the process to see it through.

The federal government needs to step up and accelerate these efforts. Women and non-binary people – especially those who are marginalized – are literally dying while we wait.

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“Gender Equality Week was created to celebrate recent gains while reflecting on the work that needs to be done to improve gender equality and women’s rights across Canada,” said Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “With a federal election underway, we are asking political leaders to take this opportunity to prove their commitment to women’s rights and gender equality.”

Gender Equality Week runs from September 22 to 28, 2019 and was first introduced by the federal government in 2018 through Bill C-309, the Gender Equality Act. This year’s theme is #EveryoneBenefits and is inspired by the vision of a gender equal society and the benefits of advancing gender equality to women, men and people of all gender identities.

“On election day, voters will have the chance to reject the politics of division by voting for a party that stands firmly for gender equality and women’s rights,” said Clarke Walker. “We hope to make that choice much easier by asking candidates to distinguish themselves through concrete platform commitments.” 

The CLC’s plan for “A Fair Canada for Everyone” asks political parties to commit to taking action on five key priorities for working people and their families – actions that can make a real difference for women and help promote gender equality.

Women deserve good jobs, liveable wages and fair working conditions.

Unions are calling for action on pay and employment equity, access to universal, affordable child care and a federal task force on care work and care jobs.

Women deserve opportunities to learn and advance their careers. They deserve adequate support to balance work, family and personal time.

Women should not face barriers in accessing medication.

Many women do not have workplace benefits and face difficult choices when they or a loved one requires medication they cannot afford. Everyone in Canada deserves a universal, single-payer, public prescription drug plan that would guarantee pharmacare for all.

Women deserve retirement security.

Thanks to the persistent gender pay gap, senior women are among Canada’s poorest populations. After a lifetime of hard work (whether paid or unpaid), no one should have to struggle to make ends meet. Action on retirement security means improved Old Age Security benefits and a reformed Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Women must be at the centre of climate action.

The climate crisis will have a disproportionate impact on women and marginalized populations. Smart investments in a clean future will put people at the centre of climate action. Investments in renewable energy, clean technology and green manufacturing can provide a source of good, green jobs for women. Climate action can also include investments in social infrastructure to help create and support good jobs and resilient communities.

Women deserve a government focused on equity and inclusion.

Canadians need a government committed to challenging hate and intolerance in all its forms. They need a government ready to improve our immigration and refugee policies, track and report on hate groups, and commit to strengthening Canada’s action plan against racism.

They also need an action plan to implement the recommendations of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“The CLC’s election campaign outlines a plan that would promote gender equality and make a real difference in the lives of women and their families,” said Clarke Walker. “Everyone benefits if we unite together to challenge racism, welcome refugees and support real reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. This election we are demanding fairness.”

This Gender Equality Week, unions are calling on voters to attend local election town halls and debates to ask candidates what their party is prepared to do to promote gender equality and a fairer Canada for everyone.

CLC Secretary-Treasurer Marie Clarke Walker will be hosting a Facebook Live event on Wednesday, September 25 at noon EST featuring a conversation about what is at stake for gender equality in the federal election.

Voters can sign up for real-time election updates from the CLC as the campaign progresses.

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The numbers are staggering.

More than 800 million women globally have experienced some form of violence and harassment, ranging from physical assault to verbal abuse, bullying and intimidation, according to the International Trade Union Confederation.

Here in Canada, a 2018 Angus Reid study found that 1 in 2 women reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. Two-thirds of women told pollsters that they were personally impacted by the #MeToo movement.

Indeed, #MeToo and similar movements have helped expose the scale of the problem in the world of work, encouraging women to speak out and demand justice. While women are overwhelmingly and disproportionately affected, men are not immune. And discrimination against certain groups exacerbates violence and harassment.

A study by Canada’s federal government found that 94% of complaints of sexual harassment in federal workplaces were made by women. The study found that women with disabilities or who were a member of a visible minority were more likely to experience harassment.

In response to the overwhelming evidence of this phenomenon, the federal government passed Bill C-65 last year with the input of unions and employers. The legislation focuses on prevention, effective responses and support for affected employees.

This was an important step. However, no sector, whether formal or informal, public, private or voluntary is immune to this scourge. There are far too many workplaces in which workers are continuously at risk, with few safeguards or supports. This is one of the main reasons Canada’s unions launched a campaign called #DoneWaiting in 2018, which includes a call to end violence and sexual harassment at work.

In particular, higher rates of violence and harassment are consistently recorded in sectors such as transport, health and social care, hotel and restaurant, media and entertainment, agriculture, and in domestic work. Violence and harassment at work can come from managers, supervisors, co-workers, customers and clients. Furthermore, research conducted by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the University of Western Ontario found that 1 in 3 workers have experienced domestic violence, another form of violence that can impact them at work.

It can happen at the physical workplace, at work-related social events or training, while getting to and from work, or anywhere the worker is required to be because of her or his work. Abusive workplace practices can also contribute to the toll of violence and harassment, with work-related stress and mental illness at an all-time high.

There is a window of opportunity to take decisive action to hold employers accountable, across sectors.

This month, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations (UN) agency responsible for setting global legal standards for working conditions, will complete negotiations on a new law to prohibit, prevent and remedy violence and harassment. The aim is to ratify a global treaty during the ILO’s centenary conference taking place between June 10-21.

If the negotiations are successful, the new international law will place clear responsibilities on employers and governments for tackling violence and harassment in the world of work. Workers, too, will have responsibilities to refrain from acts of violence and harassment and to comply with any policies, procedures or other steps taken by their employers to prevent it.

While there are differences to settle on the final content of the new law, there is broad support for its adoption amongst trade unions, governments and some employers.

Negotiations with companies include introducing or strengthening measures like paid leave for victims of domestic violence, providing easy access to information, advice or counselling, and flexible working hours to minimise the risk of stalking by violent ex-partners.

Violence and harassment in the world of work is a global problem, requiring global solutions.

The negotiations at the ILO are timely, not least, as the UN agency celebrates 100 years of its existence this year. Trade unions were campaigning for this new law long before the painful revelations of #MeToo. Our government and employers must now play their part in making this a reality.

No one should go to work fearing for their safety and well-being.

Marie Clarke Walker is the Secretary-Treasurer of the CLC.

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The report, released today, follows three years of painful testimonies from 2000 affected individuals and their families, shared during dozens of community meetings across the country.

“The final report calls what is happening to Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people a ‘genocide’,” said Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

“Indigenous women remain six times more likely than non-Indigenous women to experience gender-based violence in Canada,” noted Walker. “This report must be the blueprint for an urgent action plan to address this national shame.”

Canada’s unions are calling on the federal government to:

• develop an action plan to implement the report’s recommendations;
• fully implement S-3, An Act to Amend the Indian Act; and
• pass Bill C-262, An Act to ensure that the laws of Canada are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The report offers sweeping recommendations, including the immediate transformation of Indigenous policing, review and amendments to the Criminal Code to eliminate definitions of offences that minimize the culpability of the offender, and other crucial solutions to make this country a safer place for Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people.

“Canada’s unions will continue to consult with their working groups and community partners to develop an internal strategy and plan of action to support Indigenous communities,” added Walker.

The CLC and many of its affiliates have been closely monitoring and engaged with the inquiry’s process since its launch in 2015.

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“We can’t take abortion rights in Canada for granted. We are not immune to the attitudes and tactics at play south of the border. There is an alarming and well-funded effort by anti-choice groups in Canada to elect politicians who support restrictions on reproductive health services and rights,” said Hassan Yussuff, CLC President. “When Conservative politicians attend anti-choice rallies and express their desire to make abortion ‘unthinkable’ it’s time to take a clear stand. We will resist any attempt to take us backwards.”

Canada’s unions have a deep and longstanding commitment to sexual and reproductive health and rights. Unions and labour activists joined the call to decriminalize birth control and abortion in the 60s and 70s. In its 1968 submission to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, the CLC observed that “if a woman in the pursuit of her career wishes to arrange the timing of her pregnancies in a manner consistent with the demands of her occupation, to limit the size of her family, or, indeed, to have no children at all, then this should be a matter for her discretion”.

Since the 1988 Morgentaler decision, the labour movement has worked with feminist organizations and other allies to resist attempts to introduce new restrictions to abortion rights and access. In May 2008, the CLC awarded Dr. Henry Morgentaler with its highest honour, the Award for Outstanding Service to Humanity, for his work promoting health and equality for women.

Canada’s unions have long called for public coverage of medical procedures and medication to allow people to decide whether and when to have children, promote maternal health, affirm their gender identity and meet other sexual and reproductive health care needs. They have also called for better access to abortion services in regions where it remains difficult to obtain sexual and reproductive health care. And unions continue to support comprehensive sexuality education, access to health care for trans people, and protections for pregnant people in unsafe working conditions.

“The labour movement’s support for reproductive justice includes our fight for decent work, for good jobs, for maternity and parental leaves, and for child care for all families,” said Marie Clarke Walker, CLC Secretary-Treasurer. “Economic justice and reproductive health and rights are linked, and are fundamental to gender equality.”

Access to abortion services remains a problem, especially in rural, remote and Indigenous communities, for young people, for those with precarious immigration status or who don’t have the means to travel. In some provinces, like New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island such services are virtually non-existent on account of provincial policies that restrict access or impose limits on funding. The lack of access to sexual and reproductive health care and rights has disproportionate impacts on people who experience various forms of marginalization, such as Indigenous women, Black and racialized women, women with disabilities, trans and non-binary folk, immigrant, migrant and refugee women.

“Canada’s unions will not tolerate any attempt to roll back abortion rights. We will keep calling on governments to address gaps and barriers to access, to ensure that everyone is equally able to access sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion,” said Yussuff.

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With hate crimes on the rise, the Canadian Labour Congress is encouraging people to endorse the Charter for Inclusive Communities which promotes “inclusive, just, and respectful communities in Canada”.

Recent data released by Statistics Canada shows that police-reported hate crimes in Canada rose dramatically in 2017, up by 47% over the previous year. Incidents targeting the Muslim community rose by 151%. Hate crimes targeting Jewish people rose by 63% and those targeting Black people rose by 50%.

“The hate crime numbers are profoundly disturbing,” said CLC President, Hassan Yussuff. “Canada has been a proud champion of human rights, at home and abroad. These numbers illustrate the impact of ongoing normalization of hatred. While Canada continues to address its painful legacy of colonialism, it must additionally do more to promote values of diversity, acceptance, and inclusion. We must work collectively to confront all forms of racism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia.”

As well, Canada’s unions have joined in the call for January 29^th to be recognized as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia. The date marks the tragic anniversary of the Quebec mosque massacre in which a gunman killed six people and severely wounded eight more.

In the 2018 budget, the federal government committed to additional funding to help support anti-racism initiatives. In addition to $2 million already allocated to anti-racism engagement, the government announced:

• $21 million was added to strengthen the Multiculturalism program’s resources for anti-racism and discrimination community support. This included additional funding for events and projects that address racism and discrimination with a priority on Indigenous Peoples as well as women and girls;
• $19 million was allocated to enhance local community supports for Black Canadian youth and to develop research in support of more culturally focused mental health programs for Black Canadians.

“It’s imperative that any new funding support the varied needs of communities”, said Yussuff. “This means the federal government must continue to consult with those most impacted by racism, and ensure their voices inform policies intended to remove barriers to participation. This is how we can truly promote inclusive communities.”

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This year, Canada’s unions are taking action to specifically address gender-based violence in the workplace. Violence and harassment are a daily reality for far too many workers in Canada. The #MeToo movement has demonstrated how gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, remain a significant barrier for women, trans and gender diverse workers. Canada’s unions are calling for government action to prevent and stop violence and harassment at work.

Globally, Canada’s unions have united behind the effort to negotiate a new convention at the International Labour Organization (ILO). This binding convention would hold governments and employers accountable for preventing and addressing all forms of violence and harassment at work.

“This important convention establishes a common understanding of what harassment and violence is, how it manifests at work, and who faces greater risk or is most vulnerable to its effects. It will help drive government regulation and employer action,” said CLC Secretary-Treasurer, Marie Clarke Walker. Walker is the worker spokesperson for the negotiations.

In Canada, governments are now recognizing gender-based harassment and violence as an issue that requires action in every workplace. Earlier this fall, workers in the federal sector and those living in Newfoundland and Labrador won paid domestic violence leave. That brings to five the number of provinces where paid domestic violence leave exists.

But there still remains much work to do.

Over the next 16 days, the CLC will encourage online actions through our #DoneWaiting campaign to keep up the pressure on elected officials to make further progress on these issues.

The CLC will host two interactive video events during the 16 days of action.

• “Building Consent Culture in Workplaces” Facebook live discussion on November 26 at 6:00 p.m. EST. Register here.
• “How to Win Paid Domestic Violence Leave” webinar on December 3 at 12:00 p.m. EST. Register here.

To learn about events and vigils in your community, visit this 16 days of action calendar of events.

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