Project will enhance pay equity across New Brunswick

The Government is committed to advancing gender equality and understands the important role that creating more opportunities for women in all aspects of Canadian life can play in promoting women's empowerment. By investing in projects that improve women's economic security, we are helping to ensure that women, their families and communities can prosper.

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, and the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health, today announced Government of Canada funding for a project that will increase women's economic security in Moncton and across New Brunswick.

The New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity, Inc. will receive $335,005 for a 36-month project called "Valuing Private Care Work Offered in the Private Sector". With this project, the organization will work to address the low wages paid to women working as caregivers in private care facilities. They will evaluate wages paid in this sector and determine equitable pay levels for a range of caregiving services in the province. While doing so, they will support caregivers in advocating for equal pay for work of equal value. Their goal is to help transform the way in which caregiving is valued by society.

Women continue to be disproportionately affected by economic insecurity. In 2015, women in Canada earned just 87 cents for every dollar earned by men. They are also much more likely to work on a part-time basis, making up 76% of all part-time workers, with 25% of women reporting child care responsibilities as their reason for working part-time. To help eliminate the gender wage gap, the Government of Canada recently introduced proactive pay equity legislation for the federally-regulated sector. The federal government is leading by example and hopes to see others in the public and private sectors follow suit.

In October 2017, Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that support women's economic security across Canada by addressing some of the root causes of inequality, including barriers such as access to childcare, unequal pay and the gender wage gap. Through this call for proposals, entitled Support for Women's Economic Security, more than 30 projects have been approved for a total of $10 million in funding. These projects will unfold over a period of three years, and funding builds on our ongoing efforts to support women's economic empowerment and advance gender equality for all Canadians.