Evidence of meeting #33 for Status of Women in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was trades.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:30 p.m.
Director, Labour Market Policy Research, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
I think I have them right here.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
4:30 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Partnerships Directorate, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
We'd be happy to provide them.
4:30 p.m.
Director, Labour Market Policy Research, Department of Human Resources and Skills Development
Actually, I do have them here. Full-time employed men account for 79% of total job losses, and full-time employed women account for 47%, on an aggregate basis. And the reason those add up to more than 100% is that there's been growth, of course, in part-time work among both men and women.
4:30 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Partnerships Directorate, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
As indicated, we'll certainly provide more information. But just to be a little more helpful, while the employment rate for women has increased, we're aware that the gender gap persists, with women earning 84% of men—and in the blue-collar occupations, this gap is even bigger.
We also know that in Canada more women work part time than men, and the gap has grown among young people. Work/life balance is a significant reason behind this trend, with more Canadian women reporting going to school as the reason for working part time. In 2008, among part-time workers, about six times as many women as men cited caring for family and personal family responsibilities as their reason for working part time.
But we will provide you with more information.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Thank you.
Can I just ask some questions about the sector councils? You indicated there are 33 sector councils. I assume you fund them differently, that they're not all funded the same.
4:30 p.m.
Director, Sector Council Program, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
No, they're not. We have a funding formula that looks at the relative importance of these sectors to our economy, and how well they perform generally speaking. Depending on where they fall in this wonderful graph, their core funding is adjusted time-wise, if they have two to three years, as opposed to more.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
My question about the sector councils is the following. When you provide funding to them, is there any requirement for them to do some gender-based analysis and undertake some initiatives—though I wouldn't expect that in cosmetology—when you're working with them? Or do they determine their own priorities as they relate to women?
4:30 p.m.
Director, Sector Council Program, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
As they relate to women, most sector councils are asked to provide or undertake sector studies on a regular basis, on either a three- to five-year cycle, and most of them are starting to put those numbers in—
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Director, Sector Council Program, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
No, not at this time, but most have done it.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Anita Neville Liberal Winnipeg South Centre, MB
Could we just ask for some information?
Could we get a list of those sector councils that are funded, please?
4:35 p.m.
Director, Sector Council Program, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Yes.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
I will be sharing my time with Ms. McLeod.
Good afternoon. Thank you for being here today. Everyone is interested in what you have to say. It is extremely interesting, and a number of questions come to mind as we listen to you.
Mr. Green, you said that you work in cooperation with the provinces and territories. In some areas, are you not stepping on provincial jurisdiction? Do you have a program, or is your role limited to making a financial contribution?
4:35 p.m.
Director General, Workplace Partnerships Directorate, Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada
Our role is a callous one. Basically, the training has been devolved to the provinces, and there's been an attempt to clearly delineate between the training and.... We're very involved in labour market information, and we have the EI programs, but with respect to the on-the-ground training, that has been left to the provinces. With respect to the federal dollars that are being transferred, we obviously indicate what the priorities are, based on what we know about the various labour markets.
So that's the basic delineation.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
What is the pay scale for male-dominated trades and female-dominated trades? Are men still better paid than women?
4:35 p.m.
Chief, Analysis and Special Projects, Labour Statistics Division, Statistics Canada
You are probably correct. I cannot give you the figures today, because I do not have them with me. But if you want to know the salaries for non-traditional trades and “non-non traditional trades“, if I may use that term, we could send them to you.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Sylvie Boucher Conservative Beauport—Limoilou, QC
It is important to know whether inequalities in terms of training exist in male-dominated skilled trades.
