The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the many ways in which inequality is baked into our economy and institutions.
The crisis in care work predates the pandemic, rooted in the deeply gendered treatment and positioning of care work, intersecting with racist and ableist stereotypes and immigration policies designed to service Canada’s care deficit.
A structural re-think and systemic change is needed.
Gender equality
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press, March 14, 2022
In the two years since Canada’s pandemic experience began, transit ridership across the country has plummeted. Or perhaps, more accurately, riders who had the ability to work remotely or the ability to find alternate transportation to work did so. Early in the pandemic, ridership in Toronto, for example, declined as much as 85% resulting in a $21 million per week revenue loss for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). In turn, the TTC laid off 450 employees and reduced service.
OTTAWA—Parents in some cities could be in line to save tens-of-thousands of dollars annually under a proposed national child care plan, according to a new city-by-city savings analysis from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press June 15, 2021
VANCOUVER — A one per cent tax on wealth over $20 million would generate nearly twice as much revenue as previously calculated by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, money that could lift thousands of Canadians out of poverty and fund health, social and environmental programs says new research by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, BC Office.
This policy brief describes some of the ways Manitoba women have borne the brunt of CoviD and what’s needed for a feminist recovery
“Decades of gender equality progress was wiped away in two short months during 2020, the budget must contain meaningful action and funding for universal child care, training and skills-building, and making recent temporary changes to EI permanent” - CCPA National Senior Economist Katherine Scott author of Work and COVID-19: Priorities for supporting women and the economy, available today at
This report looks at the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economic security of women in Canada and the current efforts to respond to urgent economic need in the short- to medium-term, as well as demands for fundamental systemic change moving forward. Do Canada’s pandemic responses measure up? Are they providing essential financial support to those in need? Are they working to eliminate systemic barriers facing women—and marginalized women, in particular—in the labour market?
OTTAWA—On International Women’s Day and ahead of the 2021 federal budget, a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives argues that targeted government action is needed to support women, who have borne the brunt of the economic impacts of COVID-19.
The report, Women, work and COVID-19: Priorities for supporting women and the economy, analyzes the impact a year of COVID-19 has had on women in the labour market and recommends policy measures to address the crisis.