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 continue to work with provincial and territorial governments and health partners to ensure that all frontline workers have access to properly fitting personal protective equipment while working.

Recommendation 2

That the Government of Canada continue to implement measures, such as the Wellness Together Canada portal, to help ensure that women, girls and gender-diverse people across Canada are able to access adequate and secure online mental health services during and after the COVID‑19 pandemic by continuing to invest in programs to support broadband Internet access, recognized as an essential service.

Recommendation 3

That the Government of Canada continue to work in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments, in accordance with their respective jurisdictions, to help ensure that women with disabilities, girls with disabilities and gender-diverse people with disabilities are able to access health supports that meet their needs, such as access to support persons and caregivers, medical supports and physiotherapy, during and after the pandemic.

Recommendation 4

That the Government of Canada, in collaboration with provinces and territories, ensure that women, especially women who own small and medium-sized enterprises, have effective access to adequate and improved business supports and training to maximize their capacity to recover and prosper in the post-pandemic economy.

Recommendation 5

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories in accordance with their respective jurisdictions, with the goal of increasing women’s labour force participation, improving the quality of health and social services available to Canadians and stimulating the economy, to support the care sector[1] by:

• considering investments in the care sector in the pandemic economic recovery plan; and
• considering initiatives, such as the creation of a federal care economy commission, to direct future actions for the care sector.

Recommendation 6

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories, recognizing that women disproportionately work in industries hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic and have therefore experienced significant pandemic-related economic insecurity, evaluate how to support employees in industries where women work such as, but not limited to, the retail, hospitality, food services, non-profit and care sectors.

Recommendation 7

That the Government of Canada is to review that federal income support programs, including supports for seniors and individuals with disabilities, meet Canadians’ needs during and after the pandemic.

Recommendation 8

That the Government of Canada work with the provinces and territories to ensure development of national standards related to health and safety, and working conditions and labour supply, in long-term care facilities that are consistent and are being met by facilities across the country, regardless of geographic location, in accordance with their respective jurisdictions.

Recommendation 9

That the Government of Canada implement measures to protect the rights and reduce stigmatization of vulnerable Canadians, such as:

• conducting a review of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, ensuring that sex workers are consulted in this review process;
• examining measures to decriminalize sex work;
• providing funding for peer-led community support and referral for support services for sex workers and other vulnerable Canadians; and
• ensuring that consensual sex workers and other vulnerable Canadians are eligible for federal income and emergency supports.

Recommendation 10

That the Government of Canada, with the goal of recognizing the value of unpaid caregiving work, including caring for spouses, children, grandchildren, and seniors:

• ensure that current federal supports and tax credits for caregivers meet the needs of individuals providing this unpaid care with a multicultural perspective, recognizing that different communities and cultures in Canada have different styles of caregiving; and
• explore initiatives, including with employers, to improve recognition and compensation (including tax credits) for individuals performing unpaid care work.

Recommendation 11

That the Government of Canada, in partnership with the provinces and territories, with the goal of ensuring that all Canadian families have access to high-quality, safe, flexible, affordable and inclusive childcare services:

• continue to support the safe reopening of childcare services during the COVID‑19 pandemic;
• explore strategies to expand access to various types[2] of childcare services during and after the pandemic, such as increasing payments to parents, and consider expanding funding to develop and implement a national early learning and childcare system; and
• work to ensure that sufficient spaces are provided during the pandemic with capacity to expand after.

Recommendation 12

That the Government of Canada, in collaboration with the provinces and territories, with the goal of providing all women and children affected by gender-based violence and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation with access to comparable levels of services during the COVID‑19 pandemic, ensure that:

• provinces and territories ensure that women seeking access to shelters and transition houses have access to COVID‑19 testing;
• survivors of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation have access to the appropriate support services and to financial supports during a public health crisis;
• women and children, particularly Indigenous women and children living in urban, rural and remote communities, have access to comprehensive and culturally appropriate services and continuing support to meet their particular needs;
• shelters serving women and children affected by violence and human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation continue to have access to long-term, appropriate and stable operational funding, and that this funding goes through the provinces and territories; and
• shelters and sexual assault services are able to raise awareness about the services they provide to their communities.

Recommendation 13

That the Government of Canada encourage provinces and territories to deem shelters serving women and children affected by violence and human trafficking to be essential services.

Recommendation 14

That the Government of Canada continue its efforts to create a national action plan to address issues raised in the report Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls as soon as possible.

Recommendation 15

That the Government of Canada continue to develop and implement, in collaboration with provinces and territories and civil society, a national action plan on gender-based violence that is harmonized with the Calls for Justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and that this action plan include:

• inclusive and accessible gender-based violence supports and services;
• supports for children who have witnessed gender-based violence;
• multi-year funding to address gender-based violence, including for frontline service providers specifically; and
• measures to ensure that the judicial system in Canada supports survivors of gender-based violence.

Recommendation 16

That the Government of Canada continue to provide funding specifically dedicated to helping organizations deliver programming to help victims and survivors of human trafficking.

Observation 1

The Committee believes that to holistically address and reduce sexual exploitation in Canada the following initiatives could be beneficial:

• continuing the work of the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, including by providing law enforcement, prosecutors and criminal justice practitioners with trauma-informed comprehensive training on recognizing and responding to human trafficking and exploitation; and
• encouraging provinces and territories to conduct gender-based analysis plus of education curricula related to sexual education, gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, consent and healthy relationships.

Recommendation 17

That the Government of Canada apply gender-based analysis plus to all decisions and the development of all policies, and emergency relief and recovery programs related to the COVID‑19 pandemic to ensure that these policies and programs address the specific needs of, and do not have unintended negative impacts on, all people in Canada, including women, girls and gender-diverse people, from diverse backgrounds.

Recommendation 18

That the Government of Canada ensure that programs and policies to assist small and medium-sized enterprises respond to the COVID‑19 pandemic reflect the needs of businesses owned by diverse groups of women – including Indigenous women, women with disabilities and newcomers to Canada – and encourage the uptake of existing programs that could support women entrepreneurs.

Recommendation 19

That the Government of Canada improve accessibility to its emergency relief benefits for the pandemic by simplifying the administrative mechanisms to access these programs.

Recommendation 20

That the Government of Canada, with the goal of eliminating income insecurity and financially empowering women, consider replacing existing emergency benefits with a permanent universal basic income program.

Recommendation 21

That the Government of Canada collect and disseminate timely data, disaggregated by gender and ethnicity, about the uptake of emergency relief programs, including programs that have concluded, such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, as well as programs that are currently active, such as the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, to ensure that programs are meeting the needs of the Canadians they aim to assist, including women, girls and gender-diverse people, and to support decision-making for future recovery from the pandemic.