On International Women’s Day this year, separating the COVID-19 pandemic from ongoing discrimination against women and girls was effectively impossible. 

The story of women and girls during the COVID-19 pandemic has been told through dismal economic research, the lack of affordable childcare options, rising domestic violence rates, and disproportionate layoff notices. Still, every day, women and girls write their own chapters: in the bravery of healthcare workers, the inspiring leadership of women in the social sector, and the guidance of women experts at the highest levels of the Canadian government. 

We’ve rounded up some of the most notable announcements around International Women’s Day this week from corporations, unions, and the federal government: 

Ottawa unveils Task Force on Women in the Economy

Women, especially young women in the service sector, were forced out of their jobs at record rates in 2020. According to a March report from the Toronto Star, roughly 500,000 women who left the workforce during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic were still out of work in January. Layoffs, a lack of childcare, and the precarity of service jobs during a pandemic are all contributing factors — and the Liberal government is promising to take them all into consideration in shaping the upcoming federal budget. 

On International Women’s Day, the Liberal government announced the members of the Task Force on Women in the Economy, a group of female experts from across the corporate world, non-profit sector, academia, activist, and union sectors. They will advise the federal government on its plan to improve job prospects and economic growth for women across Canada. “Canada’s future prosperity and competitiveness depend on the ability of women to participate equally — and fully — in our workforce,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in a statement. 

The Task Force Members include two prominent leaders in the social impact sector: Maya Roy of the YWCA and Jocelyn Formsma of the National Association of Friendship Centres. It also includes the chairperson of the board of directors for Capital Pride in Ottawa, the former Medical Officer of Health for Halifax, the Atkinson Foundation’s Fellow on the Future of Workers, and the leader of Child Care Now. However, a quick scan of the Task Force suggests it may be missing some important perspectives: it does not appear to include any openly transgender members. 

Google launches $25 million in grants for non-profits and social enterprises focused on women globally

Women and girls have been shut out of jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, and financial independence for a long, long time. COVID-19 is showing just how tenuous the feminist gains of the past century can be. “Gender inequality is one of the most urgent challenges we face as a society, and COVID-19 has put the economic future of women at girls at even greater risk,” reads an introduction to the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls. 

The initiative by Google will commit $25 million U.S. to fund organizations that offer “pathways to prosperity” for women and girls. Organizations chosen by the tech giant will receive between $300,000 and $2 million, as well as mentorship and support from Google itself. “We want to support organizations helping women and girls turn their economic potential into power: from programs addressing systemic barriers to economic equality, to those cultivating entrepreneurship, developing financial independence, and more,” the introduction said. 

Organizations interested in applying need to submit their proposals for charitable projects no later than April 9. In a second stage, Google.org will invite a shortlist of organizations to submit more project information by an undisclosed date. The selected organizations will be announced in “late 2021.” 

It’s worth noting that Google (along with Apple and other prominent tech companies) has faced allegations of sexist and racist treatment of its own workers for years. Hundreds of Google workers walked off the job around the world in 2018, including Canada, calling for pay and opportunity equality and a platform to anonymously report sexual misconduct. In early March, nine current and former Google employees told NBC News their company was advising workers who complained about sexism and racism to take mental health leave rather than address the root causes of discrimination. 

Goldman Sachs invests $10 billion in ‘One Million Black Women’ initiative

Much of the ongoing discrimination against Black women is expressed through underinvestment. In the U.S., Black women earn just 63 cents for every dollar paid to their white male counterparts. Black female entrepreneurs receive just 0.3 percent of all venture capital funding. This is why a new initiative from Goldman Sachs, could be critical to improving the lives of Black women. 

One Million Black Women is promising to commit $10 billion in direct investment capital and $100 million in philanthropic support to address “the dual disproportionate gender and racial biases that Black women have faced for generations, which have only been exacerbated by the pandemic,” reads a section of Goldman Sachs’ website. “One Million Black Women will comprise investments focused on key moments in Black women’s lives from early childhood through retirement.” 

Over the course of the initiative, the U.S. banking giant is promising to invest in healthcare, education, housing, and small business to try and improve the lives of at least a million Black women across the U.S. by 2030. Goldman Sachs will also be launching a series of what they call “listening sessions” to get input on the sorts of investments, companies, and programs that could best help Black women. 

Goldman Sachs isn’t the only major U.S. bank to allocate billions of dollars into racial equality efforts. As reported in Forbes, JPMorgan Chase announced $30 billion over the next 5 years for minority-owned businesses and increased access to home loans for Black and Latino Americans. These investments are about more than just the pandemic. In the years since the Great Recession of 2008, major banks in America have come under scrutiny for racist practices such as “redlining”, a financial strategy of refusing to invest in low-income, mostly Black communities. 

Healthcare workers hold International Women’s Day action at Pickering long-term care facility

The day before International Women’s Day, unions representing 175,000 workers across Ontario launched a campaign calling on the provincial government to better protect women who work in hospitals, nursing homes, and retirement facilities. “After shouldering the crushing burdens of the pandemic for the past year, workers in the healthcare sector — a majority female workforce — are calling on Premier Ford’s government to stand with working women, not on the side of a broken system that profits from their labour,” read a statement from SEIU Healthcare, one of the unions involved. 

The “Respect Us. Protect Us. Pay Us” campaign is calling on healthcare providers to turn part-time jobs into full-time positions with proper benefits, provide paid sick leave for COVID-19 related absence, and provide enough personal protective equipment for healthcare workers. They are also asking for a temporary $4-an-hour “pandemic pay” raise offered by the Ontario government to all healthcare workers to be made permanent. 

Union leaders criticized not only a lack of respect from the provincial government for this work — in part, they say, because it is such a female-dominated industry — but also a lack of protections. Sharon Richer, secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, said nearly 20,000 healthcare workers have been infected with COVID-19 so far. 20 died. “This valuable female workforce deserves respect, protection and better pay,” she said in a statement. 

The framework for a national action plan on gender-based violence is due at the end of March

Feminist organizations have been asking for a national action plan to protect women from violence for decades. By the end of March, a framework for it is expected to be in place. According to CBC News, it is expected to include new programs and laws that protect women wherever they live in Canada.

Lise Martin, executive director of Women’s Shelters Canada, one of the advocacy organizations involved in developing the framework, says this approach is desperately needed. There are a variety of laws across Canada that protect women for violence, but these can vary by province or territory. “The levels of services and protection available to women should not depend on their postal codes,” Martin told CBC News. 

This framework is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates of domestic abuse against women and girls have gone up astronomically around the world thanks in part to lockdowns and other public health restrictions. That women in Canada are being pushed out of their jobs during the pandemic at disproportionately high rates can also make it far more difficult for them to leave abusive situations. 

Canada’s gender-based violence strategy was first announced in June 2017. It includes a multitude of initiatives from research on gender-based violence to additional funding for the RCMP’s Sexual Assault Review Team, developing a framework to fight gender-based violence on university and college campuses, and putting more funds into fighting online child sexual exploitation. 

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