Canadian Chamber welcomes today’s federal announcement on funding to support safe, full-time return to school policies

(OTTAWA) – August 26, 2020 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Director, Workforce Strategies and Inclusive Growth, Leah Nord, issued the following statement regarding today’s funding announcement for full-time return to school policies:

“For working mothers everywhere whose children will be returning to the classroom as of next week, today’s announcement provides additional assurance that sending their children back to school is the right decision. This funding is critical to helping women fully participate in the workforce, and especially so amid the economic recovery.

Our members have repeatedly stated that the biggest impediment to more fulsome participation by women in business is access to reliable and affordable childcare and safe, full-time return to school policies across the country.

The Canadian Chamber’s Council for Women’s Advocacy (CWA) issued a statement last week on the five things the federal government can do right now to support women and foster economic growth. The first of these is contained in today’s announcement: a call to work with provinces and territories in their respective efforts to ensure there is safe full-time return to school policies for September 2020 that take into account international experiences, learnings and best practices to date.
Although all parents face challenges, the data shows that working women bear the larger burden for childcare, which has affected their labour force participation rates. As we face the enormous challenge of recovering from the economic impacts of COVID-19, the Canadian Chamber believes that we need all hands on deck. COVID-19 has made women in the workplace an economic imperative.
In welcoming today’s announcement, the Canadian Chamber and the CWA call on all stakeholders to act collaboratively and swiftly to make safe, full-time return to school a reality for all Canadian students. To do so ensures women can focus on work and fully participate in the recovery process that is essential for widespread job creation and sustained economic growth.”

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.

For more information, please contact:

Phil Taylor

ptaylor@chamber.ca (preferred and fastest response time)