As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

That the Government of Canada work with Quebec and the other provinces and territories to recognize, reduce and redistribute women’s disproportionate responsibility for unpaid and care work by:

• acknowledging that this work is essential;
• investing in the care sector, including home and community care, to build a robust care system in all regions of Canada with appropriate compensation and labour standards; and
• applying gender-based analysis plus to, and include caregivers’ voices in, the development of all related policy decisions.

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada, in partnership with the provinces and territories, establish a National Care Economy Commission to develop and implement a national care strategy and to examine the possibility of applying the International Labour Organization’s “5R Framework for Decent Care Work.”.

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada recognize the first Tuesday in April as National Invisible Work Day and encourage all United Nations member states to do the same.

Recommendation 4

That the Government of Canada explore measures to encourage parents (especially fathers) to take advantage of parental leave, such as by increasing existing maternity and parental benefits and establishing paternity leave alongside the maternity and parental leave that exists under the Employment Insurance system.

Recommendation 5

That the Government of Canada, in partnership with Quebec and the other provinces and territories, with the goal of ensuring that all families in Canada, regardless of geographic location or immigration status, have access to high-quality, affordable and inclusive childcare options, work to:

•  adequately and sustainably fund, through transfers to the provinces and territories with the rights to retraction with full compensation, an affordable and culturally appropriate national early learning and childcare system; and
•  ensure that this national system includes options for Canadians such as, sufficient public childcare spaces to meet demand, or sufficient financial support to Canadians who wish to care for their children at home.

Recommendation 6

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories in accordance with their respective jurisdictions to improve immigrant and newcomer women’s awareness of and access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services and supports, including English and French language classes, as well as other social and community services.

Recommendation 7

That the Government of Canada collaborate with Indigenous organizations, communities and individuals, particularly Indigenous women, to identify the needs of Indigenous women providing unpaid and caregiving work and ensure federal initiatives are culturally sensitive and meet their needs.

Recommendation 8

That the Government of Canada support Statistics Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information to properly and more frequently collect data on and track unpaid and caregiving work in all regions across Canada and expand data collection to include:

•   the estimated monetary values of unpaid and caregiving work in Canada;
• data disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, age, Indigenous identity and other factors;
•   pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic caregiving and unpaid work data;
•   the mental and physical health effects of unpaid and caregiving work; and
•   employment and financial effects of unpaid work and caregiving.

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada, with the goal of recognizing invisible work, facilitating dialogue and encouraging employers to consider workplace accommodations for caregivers, implement an awareness campaign about unpaid and caregiving work to increase both the public’s and employers’ understanding of these types of work.

Recommendation 10

That the Government of Canada continue to support the implementation of the Pay Equity Act.