Invisible and unpaid work in and outside the home are essential to Canadian families, communities and society. Globally, and in Canada, women perform the majority of this work, which is undervalued and under appreciated. Also, women may face different challenges because of their unpaid work responsibilities. For example, women who perform unpaid work may have a double burden of unpaid and paid workloads, lower levels of labour force participation, less economic security, and negative mental and physical health effects.

Not only is women’s unpaid work, including unpaid care work, undervalued, but women’s paid care work is also undervalued and underpaid. Racialized and immigrant women represent a large part of the paid care workforce. In addition, many women who are newcomers to Canada face unique challenges related to unpaid work. For example, the burden of integrating newcomer families into Canada often falls on the women in these families. English and French language abilities may act as barriers to some immigrant and newcomer women’s integration as well as access to services, such as childcare, and employment.

To support women who perform unpaid work, witnesses made several proposals to the Committee. For example, witnesses emphasized the importance of affordable and accessible childcare services for women, regardless of geographic location or immigration status in Canada. In addition, witnesses underlined the need to recognize and value unpaid and invisible work, including care work. Finally, witnesses advocated for investments in the care sector to improve working conditions for workers in this sector.