Canada is not safe from the COVID-19 pandemic if countries around the world are still suffering from its effects, as well as the many humanitarian crises in its wake. Defeating the virus will require a strategic and broad international aid plan.
Around 80 percent of Canada’s non-profit and charity workers are women. Those who have children bear a disproportionate brunt of child care duties. Under a publicly-funded child care plan, the sector’s female workforce may be better able to balance work and family life.
Patients are dying in ICUs across Ontario because they — or their colleagues, friends, and families — cannot afford to take time off work if they are infected with COVID-19. Until a paid sick day policy is enacted, many workers will need financial help to isolate or seek treatment.
COVID-19 has tested Canada’s social safety nets, and many would say they’ve failed that test. Historically oppressed and marginalized communities have fallen deeper into poverty and marginalization. The budget provides a roadmap for how the federal government plans to change this reality.
You may have heard about childcare, climate, and other big themes that made the Budget 2021 headlines, but plenty of other proposals within its pages will create conditions for emerging opportunities and challenges.
Social impact organizations have watched with alarm as the pandemic saps the livelihoods, food access, educational opportunities, jobs, and medical needs of Canadians — as well as their own capacity. Canada’s federal budget promises massive investments to correct that.