Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

Comité permanent des ressources humaines, du développement des compétences, du développement social et de la condition des personnes handicapées

For immediate release

Ottawa, February 07, 2023 -

As Canada recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, labour has been increasingly in demand, with record job vacancies reflecting both pandemic-related challenges and longer-term issues such as population aging. The effects have been felt especially acutely in the care economy – a sector where gender, race and immigration status intersect, encompassing healthcare workers, personal support workers, childcare workers, and others who have been on the front line of the pandemic.

Yesterday, Bonita Zarrillo, Member of Parliament for Port Moody—Coquitlam and member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, presented the Committee’s seventh report in the House of Commons.

Entitled Labour Shortages, Working Conditions and the Care Economy, the report follows a motion sponsored by Bonita Zarrillo (Member of Parliament for Port Moody—Coquitlam) and adopted by the Committee on February 3rd, 2022. The motion required that the Committee undertake a study of labour shortages and working conditions within the entirety of the Canadian economy, including but not limited to the care economy, and that it examine how the federal government – in collaboration with the provinces and territories – could improve working conditions in the care economy.

The Committee’s report summarizes oral and written testimony provided by a variety of witnesses, including senior government officials, advocates, and labour and employer representatives. Witnesses working in multiple sectors of the economy shared their perspectives with the Committee, from care economy sectors such as health care and long-term care, to other sectors such as aerospace, construction, food and beverage processing, and policing.

In addition to providing an overview of labour shortages in the Canadian economy and the care economy, the report makes 16 recommendations focusing on key themes such as labour market information; skills and training; engaging underrepresented populations; labour mobility; supporting rural Canada; accessing international talent (including through temporary workers, permanent immigration, and foreign credential recognition); improving working conditions; and strengthening the care economy.

The Committee is composed of 12 Members of Parliament. It is chaired by Robert Morrissey (Egmont) and its vice-chairs are Louise Chabot (Thérèse-De Blainville) and Tracy Gray (Kelowna—Lake Country). The other committee members are as follows: Scott Aitchison (Parry Sound—Muskoka); Chad Collins (Hamilton East—Stoney Creek); Michael Coteau (Don Valley East); Rosemarie Falk (Battlefords—Lloydminster): Michelle Ferreri (Peterborough—Kawartha); Wayne Long (Saint John—Rothesay); Soraya Martinez-Ferrada (Hochelaga); Tony Van Bynen (Newmarket—Aurora) and Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam).