Canadian Chamber: five things the federal government can do right now to support women and foster economic growth

The CWA will continue to explore recommendations that the federal government can implement to support women through the recovery period, alongside looking at best practices and guidance for the business community. (File: Pexels Photo)

(OTTAWA) – Research consistently shows that women in the workforce, whether they be employees, business-owners or entrepreneurs, have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Canadian Chamber’s Council for Women’s Advocacy (CWA) aims to reverse that trend.

“As Canada begins planning its recovery from COVID-19, widespread job creation and sustained economic growth will require nothing less than the full participation of women in the workforce. This is not a women’s issue, it is an economic issue,” said Penny Wise, President, 3M Canada Company, and CWA co-chair.

“Through this evolving pandemic situation women have been at the forefront and burden of this change, affected across every aspect of their lives, from extended work hours to home-schooling to frontline caregiving,” said Kevin McCreadie, CEO and Chief Investment Officer, AGF Management Limited, and CWA co-chair. “We are at an inflection point in our re-openings where funding is needed now to create significant opportunities to foster an inclusive recovery. The actions we take today will help avoid worst case scenarios in the near future.”

The CWA, was created as unifying national voice of the business community to drive action. The CWA is focusing its initial efforts on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic in three key areas for the short-term: facilitating safe, reliable and affordable childcare, supporting women’s entrepreneurship, and supporting job pivots for women.

The CWA is calling on the federal government to immediately realize the following five recommendations to support women, foster inclusive recovery and ensure sustained economic growth.

1. A safe return to school is a critical element of getting women back to work. The CWA calls for the government to build upon the July 2020 ‘safe restart’ initiative, and work with provinces and territories to ensure there are safe policies in place for a full-time return to school in September 2020. This plan should take into account international experiences and best practice to date.
2. Improved childcare options are a must-have to maximize women’s participation in the workforce. The CWA urges the federal government to augment and then expand the mandate of the Expert Panel on Early Learning and Child Care Data and Research. As part of this improvement, the government should:
   – Add parent and business community representatives to the Expert Panel to ensure all pertinent stakeholders are at the table and make informed decisions and recommendations.
   – Expand the mandate of the Expert Panel to include developing recommendations on tax incentives for both parents/guardians and childcare providers. This could require transforming the Expert Panel into a National Secretariat by the end of the calendar year, with recommendations to follow shortly thereafter.
3. Extend eligibility for the Canadian Emergency Wage Subsidy to include hiring in-home childcare so business owners can return to work.
4. Track and breakdown data for federal funding and programming for businesses, similar to what has been done by Statistics Canada for individuals. This data should include specific measurements of female-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, but also their ratios of applications, rates of successful applications, and timing for funding received. This data should be used to inform improvements in funding and programming going forward.
5. Earmark recovery funding for upskilling and re-skilling women. As a significant and ground-breaking undertaking with a longer-term horizon, it is critically important to start and start now.

The CWA is a cornerstone of the Canadian Chamber’s diversity and inclusion initiative, established to bring the voice and perspectives of women to national policies, inform the Canadian Chamber’s initiatives in advancing the gender equality agenda, and drive meaningful action to address the identified issues and barriers.

The CWA will continue to explore recommendations that the federal government can implement to support women through the recovery period, alongside looking at best practices and guidance for the business community.

Members of the Council of Women’s Advocacy and its Working Group can be found here.

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.