Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise in the House today to recognize Invisible Work Day. This morning I had the privilege of acting as honorary chair at an event in Laval organized by the Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale de Laval.
Invisible work is unpaid work. It includes all work done within families and all volunteer work done in communities.
In 2010, Canada became the first and only country to declare a national day to recognize invisible work.
During the most recent census, it was estimated that this work was worth about $26 billion a year. However, the federal government did away with the only tool that allowed us to quantify and assess invisible work when it abolished the long form census.
I would like to thank the Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale de Laval for inviting me to today's activities and for its initiatives to mark this Invisible Work Day.