National Caregiving Strategy: Public Consultations – Work, education and care

Millions of caregivers balance their care responsibilities with the demands of working or going to school. Many caregivers, particularly women, take time away from work or leave their career entirely to provide care. This means that caregivers end up working less than the rest of the workforce, resulting in lower earnings and missing opportunities for career advancement. There are a number of policy solutions that could improve this reality, including:

• Introduce caregiver-friendly workplace policies in the federal workplace and mandate such policies in federally regulated industries (i.e., banking, telecom, broadcasting). Caregiver friendly workplace policies can include flexible hours of work and paid leave for care.
• Easy-to-access caregiver leave policies in all employment sectors through the Employment Insurance system.
• Update existing leave policies and benefits to reflect the unpredictable nature of caregiving (option for shorter or longer leaves, high income replacement rates, more frequent access over standard 52-week employment insurance (EI) cycle.

Join us for a consultation session on May 29, to explore policy solutions to address the challenges faced by working caregivers and students. Attendees will also have an opportunity to provide feedback and share their policy solutions

Registration for this webinar is required. If you cannot attend and would like to share your policy ideas, you can complete our engagement form.