Standing Committee on the Status of Women

Comité permanent de la condition féminine

For immediate release

Ottawa, March 25, 2021 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (the committee) tabled its report entitled Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women today.

The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated and exacerbated existing inequalities for women and threatens to hinder advancements towards gender equality in Canada and around the world. The committee conducted this study to gain insight into the profound and unique impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in Canada.

The committee heard testimony from 45 witnesses between July and November 2020, including the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, and the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. In addition, representatives from the Department for Women and Gender Equality and the Department of Employment and Social Development spoke to the committee. Finally, the committee heard from five individuals and 30 organizations and received 11 written submissions.

In its report, the committee provides an overview of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women’s health and wellbeing, women’s work and economic security, and women’s physical safety and security. As well, the report outlines certain federal supports that were available to diverse groups of women during the first wave of the pandemic.

More specifically, the report examines issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and:

• the health risks facing women who perform care work;
• women’s mental health;
• care supports for certain groups of women;
• women’s unpaid work;
• women’s labour force participation and economic security;
• gender-based violence and human trafficking; and
• federal emergency supports for individuals and businesses.

In its report, the committee makes 21 recommendations to provide guidance to the Government of Canada on measures that could be implemented to ensure that the needs of women from diverse backgrounds in Canada are met by COVID-19 emergency response policies and programs.

The report can be consulted on the committee’s web page on the Parliament of Canada website.