Posted: Monday, 12 March 2012

Introduction

On behalf of the 3.2 million members of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), we want to thank you for affording us the opportunity to present our views. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils whose members work in virtually all sectors of the Canadian economy, in all occupations, in all parts of Canada.

If we want to improve the economic prospects for Canadian girls, then we need to take a close look at the economic reality for Canadian women.

Women now make up almost half of Canada’s workforce. Women work in every sector of the economy, from teachers and administrators, to welders and doctors, to machine operators and child care workers. Yet women still experience inequality and discrimination in society and in workplaces.

The gap between women's and men's wages has been stuck at between 70 and 72 per cent for the last three decades. The gap is wider for older women, Aboriginal women, disabled and racialized women.
 

Download the full submission