Canadian Labour Market

● Unemployment
● Underemployment
● Precarious employment
● Decline of Manufacturing sector
● Increase in overqualified workers
● Experiences of Immigrants

Delayed Home-Leaving
● Increasing in Canada and other industrialized countries
● Reasons for this
○ Boomerang - moving out and returning
○ Cluttered nest
○ Revolving door
○ Relationships
■ Caused by long term decline in numbers of young individuals living with partners
■ Children from blended families leave home earlier than with children with non divorced
parents
■ Early departure from parental home associated with lower rates of home ownership
■ Gender differences
○ Post secondary costs
○ Rising cost

Student Debt
● High student debt
● Impacts mental health

Emile Durkheim
● Theory of suicide suggesting suicide is associated with the relationship between individual and society, the
more strongly they are anchored to society are less likely to commit suicide
○ Suicide rates related to level of social solidarity, frequency of interaction and level of shared
beliefs in a social group
○ Gender and marital status
■ Married are less likely

Examples of Social Causes

● Parental educational attainment predicts children’s educational attainment
● Feminization of HIV/AIDS linked to coail factors:
○ War and displacemnent
○ Women’s economic vulnerability
○ Sex work
○ Problematic foregin aid policies that did not provide sex education and help sex workers and
young teens

Quantitative Research
● Quantitative vs. Qualitative methods
● Rationale underlying use of either method
● Common Methods
○ Surveys
○ Interviews
○ Participant observation
○ Secondary data analysis

Sociological Methods
● Cross sectional vs longitudtinal
Canadian Families: State and Social Policy
● Government uses specific definitions of family in making social policy
○ Family policies ecompass
■ Marriage and divorce laws
■ Income security programs
■ Child welfare programs
■ Childcare services
○ Government has used definitions of marriage and daily that have not been inclusive
○ How sociologists conceptualize families
○ Intersections of paid and unpaid labour
○ Families are socially constructed
■ Change over time and place
○ Sociological definitions are inclusive
● Indian Act denied the indian status to indigenous women marrying non status indigenous men
○ Act banned matrileneal descent and inheritance
■ Society is organized through mother’s line
● European model: patriarchal legal and economic authority
● Compassionate Care Program
○ Employment insurance benefits to care for dying family member
○ Originally limited to
■ Child or child of spouse/common law partner
■ Wife/husband/common law partner
■ Father/mother
■ Father’s wife/Mother’s husband
■ Common law partner of father/mother
○ Government has since created more flexible definitions of family
■ Expanded to people other’s love or consider “family”
● Shift from welfare state model to neoliberalism
○ Neo liberal economic policy shifts burden of care to family members
● Insufficient/restricted:
○ Palliative care
○ Long term facilities
○ Home care
● Compassionate Care Program
○ Low financial benefits, length of leave is defined (26 weeks)
○ Examples include making policy more inclusive, parental rights for same sex parents, child
support to unmarried custodial parents caring for disabled adult children
● Tax policy (ex. Income splitting) introduced by government in 2015
○ Allowed couples to pay less taxes overall by splitting income between fully eomployed partner
and “stay at home” spouse
○ Tax policy received criticism and was eliminated in 2017
● Criticism of income splitting tax policy
○ Universal child care allowance
○ Every family received it
○ Initially $100 per child under 6 monthly
■ 2014 it was raised
■ 2015, additional amount was introduced
○ Criticisms of universal child care allowance
● Universal child care benefit replaced with Canada child care benefit
○ Needs based
○ Non taxable
● Government policy embedded with expectations of kind of economic support that individuals receive from
family members
○ Ex. legislation to ensure that non custodial parents of adult children with disabilities continue to
financially support adult children even if they were never married to the parent of the child
 ■ Filial responsibility laws: require adult children to give financial support to elderly parent
in financial need
● Government assumptions of finanical support shape rules and eligibility criteria for Canadians reeiing
social assistance
○ Low income individuals living in ontario: ontario works or ontario disability support program
(ODSP)
○ If recepient with children is cohabiting neither person will receive assistance as lone parent
○ Programs will look at combined income and assets to determine eligibility
● Amount of income support given to couples is less than total amount 2 individual single people would
receive
○ Based on idea that cohabiting couples have lower household expenses because they are sharing
expenses
○ Lower benefit levels given to couples is based on assumption that people in relationship will pool
their incomes
● Research indiciates that new relationships and blended families are less likely to pool incomes
○ Government’s assumption of male economic support is flawed and unrealistic
○ Social assistance eligibility rules deter relationship formation
● Increase in lone parent households among african american families in US and black families in Cnaada
reflected government social policy
● Social assistance policy weakened these families by replacing 3 generation and fluid households with 2
generational separate households containing lone mothers and their children
○ Social assistance rules prohibited lone mothers from lying with and receiving financial and non
material support from parrents, extended kin, friends and unemployed partners
● Canadian government treated cohabiting and marital relationships differently
○ Upon relationship brekaup cohabiting spouses dont have same legal rights as formerly married
couples
○ Current matrimonial property laws give spouses equal division of financial asets following
divorce, laws do not apply to cohabiting couples in all provinces except for B.C
■ Groups that lobbied for change to family law in BC argued that without this legal
protection many women and children are vulnerable following end of cohabiting
relationship
● Polyamorous relationships vs. Polygamy
○ Polygamy involves being married to more than one person at a time
■ Prohibited by Canadian law
■ Polygamy gained attention in Canada when members of Mormon community of bountiful
in BC who were prosecuted for polygamy
● Courts ruled against polygamy and argued that it adversely affected children and
women
● Court ruling stated that law should not be used to criminalize teen wives in
polygamous marriages or individuals involved in polyamorous relationships
○ Polyamory involves sexually and emotionally inrimate relationships between multiple partners
■ Relationships are agreed upon and transparent
■ Men and women have access to additional partners
■ Further differentiated from polygamy in degree of gender equality that exists as both men
and women are able to pursue intimacy with other partners
■ As opposed to polygamy, polyamory is not based on religion and doesnt always include
marital relationship
■ Consensual, transparent, negotiated
■ Challenges ideas about sanctity of marriage premised on monogamy
■ Impacts social policy and family law
● Family law related to issues of relationship discussion like:
○ Division of property and assets
○ Spousal support
○ Child support
 ■ Pensions, government plans, medical benefits, tax deductions for dependent partners are
structured around 2 person relationships and thus have potential to be challenged by
polyamorous relationships

Worl-Life Conflict and Policy

● Structured employment schedules are not comparable with being caregiver
● Impact of global pandemic varied
● Caregiving disproportionately undertaken by women
● She-cession
○ Recession of women during pandemic
○ Many women left labour market
● Most Canadians take role of care provider
● Caregiver burnout
● Sandwich generation
● Main sources of support
○ Tax deductions for children
○ Canada Child Benefit
● Krull: shift from universal to targeted benefits
● Employment Insurance meternity and parental benefits
○ Individuals off paid work due to prefgnancy or have recently given birth; parents off paid work to
care for baby; job protection; recent labour force participation required
● Maternity benefits: 15 weeks, 55% of income up to 595/week
○ Standard parental benefits
■ 40 weeks, at 55% of income up to 595/week, 1 parent gets 35 weeks, second gets 5 (take
it or lose it)
○ Extended parental benefits
■ 33% of income up to 357/week, 1 parent gets 61 weeks only, second gets 8 (take it or lose
it)
○ If income varies benefits calculated based on ‘best weeks’
○ Policies for: miscarriage, termination, stillbirth, daeth of child
○ Women who have been at home raising other children are less likely to qualify
○ Inequalities in system
○ Program values paid work over caregiving
○ Temporary solution
○ Benefit levels too low to cover most expenses
○ Employer top ups tend to go higher earning Canadians
■ Employers adding to employment insurance of employees
■ Lower earning Canadians usually do not receive this
○ Canadians most likely to take full leave are most economically advantaged
○ Parental leave not inclusive of family diversity
○ Parents that adopt or use surrogate denied maternity benefits
○ Take it or lose it leaves overlook for many reasons why second parent may not be able to leave
○ Creating new parental leave structured around needs of children
■ All parents regardless of work force participation and family structure become treated
equally, targeted benefits for low income families, improve take it or lose it leave
○ Quebec: less restrictive eligibility criteria
■ More parents could qualify
■ High benefit levels
■ Elimination of 2 week waiting period, both parents don’t need to qualify
■ Lone-parents do not have access to extra leave and benefits
○ European countries: less restrictive eligibility criteria
■ Higher benefits
■ Longer leaves
■ Non taxable benefits
● Low income families are eligible to receive employment insurance family supplement
○ Benefits vary by family income, number of children and ages of children
 ○ Family supplement can increase benefit rate to as high as 80% of average insurable earnings
○ Limitation of Family supplement
■ Very low income
■ Benefits are low
● Family Caregiver benefit for Children
○ Care for critically ill or injured person under 18
● Family Caregiver benefit for Adults
○ Care for critically ill or injured person over 18
● Compassion Care
○ Care for person of any age who requires end of life care
● Limitations of these programs
○ Have to qualify
■ Recent labour force participation
○ Length of leaves may not be enough depending on situations
○ Benefit levels are low

Investing in Families and Children

● Care of seniors
● Challenges faced by working parents
● Lack of paid sick days
● Need for universal childcare and better parental leave
● $10/day universal national childcare
● Racco: high cost of childcare
● Dominion Provincial War Time Agreement provided daycare during WW2
● Quebec - 1997 $5/day childcare
● Approximate cost of infant care in Toronto
○ 1600/month
● Family income predicts type of childcare
● Some parents try to provide care themselves to save on childcare
● Family policy influences economic security of families
● Neoliberalism reflected in family law
○ Neoliberalism is a shift away from state responsibility to individual responsibility
● Family structures financial obligations following end of marital and cohabiting relationships
● Child support determined by whom child lives with and relative incomes of each parent
● Section 7 expenses
○ Ex. childcarem extra-curricular activities
● Spousal support based on income differential between individuals and length of relationship
● Canadian family law has legislated post divorce family unit where financial obligations persist
● Supreme court of Canada recognizes feminization of poverty and gender inequalities
● Advance maintenance payments offered by some countries
● Lack of compliance with child support
○ Child support not paid or only partially paid/paid late
● Butler: trend of self representation in family courts
● Indigenous children and Black children overrepresented in child welfare system
● Bill C-92 (2020) gives indigenous communities jurisdiction over child welfare services
○ Black children overrepresented in child welfare
■ Adjei and Banahene: Black parents felt unfairly targeted by child welfare officials
○ Critique of foster care system
● Family policy musr reflet family diversity
○ Skip generation (grand families)
○ Polyamorous relationships/families
○ Platonic parenting
■ When 2 people agree to raise child together
○ Advocacy and political leadership needed to improve social policy
Labour Market and Social Policy 1

● Post WW2: economic growth, expansion of manufacturing

● Manufacturing: unionization, benefits, pensions, job security, insurance like life insurance and disability
insurance, collective bargaining, grievance system
○ Pupo et al
■ Family wage, standard employment relationship
● SER = worker receives benefits, job security, pension
● Welfare state created Employment Insurance
○ Welfare state provided for people in need of help (low income, disabled etc.)
○ Employment Insurance System
■ Unemployment Act 70’s (more like present)
● Old Age Security; Canada Pension Plan
● Welfare system
○ Government cares for individuals in need of help
○ Decline of manufacturing sector, globalization, multination corporations, labour moves out of
country, unionization decines, corporate taxation declines, rise of neoliberalism, expansion of
service sector
○ Primary labour markets: labour market shelters
○ Secondary labour markets: women, newcomers and racialized individuals overrepresented
■ Low wages, no pension
● Rise in involuntary non-standard employment
○ Non-standard
■ Night shift, part time, rotating shifts, temporary/seasonal/contract work, self-employment
● Job characteristics: physical
● Labour market segmentation theory
○ Core industries: non-competitive markets, high capital
○ Periphery: highly competitive markets, smaller companies
○ Precarious employment can be found in all field including medicine, law, and academia
■ Academia: permanent faculty positions vs. sessional positions
■ Law graduates: contract work, articling positions
■ Medical school graduates: residency spots, suicide of Robert Chu who was denied
residency, lack of hospital privileges

Labour Market and Social Policy 2

● In present times:
○ Inequalities in labour market, Employment Insurance Program, Basic Income Pilot Porgram,
Living Wage, Minimum Wage, Supports for Canadians with Disabilities
○ Human Capital theory: Education and Experience predicts labour market outcomes
■ Used to explain determinants of income
● How much people earn
○ Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives report 2019
● Racialized Canadians more likely to experience higher unemployment, lower earnings, families with low
income, less likely to have investment income or capital gains, inequalities persist for second and third
generation racialized Canadians
● Employment Isurance, Les Perreaux: critique of Employment Insurance program
○ Looking at changes government made to EI
○ EI for Canadians who have lost their job through no fault of their own
○ EI restricted to individuals who have paid into system
■ 55% of earnings, up to $638, taxed, best weeks, based on where you live
■ Critique: benefits based on where you live, restrictive eligibility criteria, low benefits,
taxable benefits
■ Babad: living wage in cities like NYC
■ Basic Income Pilot Porhect in Ontario, cancelled in 2019, financial security for
 ○ Single person received $16989, people with disabilities received an additional $6000 per year,
couples received $24027 per year
○ 1975/1978 basic income pilot, Manitoba, positive outcome
■ Improved recipients health overall
○ Min wage increase, critique of min wage
○ McQuigge: government initiative support Canadians with disabilities in Labour Market
○ Discrimination against Canadians with Disabiltiies

Labour Market and Social Policy 3

● Social problem
○ Economic security for low-income seniors
● Government supports:
○ Canada Pension Plan CPP
■ Individuals must pay into it
○ Old Age Security (OAS): needs-based
○ Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS): needs-based
■ Based on income, relationship status
■ Can be affected/reduced if income is too high
● Other sources of retirement income
○ Employer Sponsored Pension Plans, including medical benefits
○ Registered Retirement Savings Plans
○ Tax Free Savings Account
● Elimination of mandatory retirements in most fields
● Employers offer inadequate severance pay
○ Judges base severance amounts on:
■ Age
■ Position and income
■ Lenght of employment
■ Availability of comparable work
■ Qualifications of individual
■ Legal precedents
○ Older workers unemployed longer due to ageism
■ Employers know they can replace them with cheaper, younger workers
○ Changes to Canada Pension Plan (McFarland and McGugan)
■ Economic vulnerability of senior women
■ Reverse mortgages
● Pulling equity from home to live
○ CPP can be taken at 60, 65, or 70
■ Advantages healthier and more affluent seniors
■ Changes to CPP to address problem of Canadians not having employer pensions
■ Changes will have greater benefit for younger workers
■ Impact of CPP changes: higher CPP benefits
○ Limitations of CPP
■ Based on contributions
■ Low benefits
■ Taxable
■ Women and low income earners receive lower benefits
○ OAS: 65, based on income and marital status, more for those 75+
○ Guaranteed Income Supplement GIS: 65, for low income seniors
■ Limits of OAS and GIS
● low taxable benefits
● Better policy needed to address econnomic insecurity, housing affordability, food security, access to
medical benefits not covered under OHIP
● In absence of policy seniors will need to find alternative solutions to provide for themselves in retirement
Labour Market, Inequalities and the Future of Work
● Future shaped is shaped by many factors
○ Demographic change
○ Technology
○ Globalization
○ Pandemic
● Inequaity
○ Workers in precarious employment including temporary workers, older workers, women,
newcomers
● Yalzniyan
○ She-cession
■ Women’s long term economic security into retirement
● Disconnecting from work: working for workers act 2021
○ Requires employers with 25 or more employees to have policy about disconnecting from work
■ Ex. no emails after regular work hours
● 4-day work week: Guysborough NS; Zorra, ON, Iceland, many private sector companies
● In the past temporary workers have been killed due to unsafe working conditions
○ Working for Workers act 2021 addresses financial exploitation of temporary workers, mandates
licensing of agencies and recruiters. Elimination of labour trafficking
○ Newcomers to Canada
■ Working for Workers Act 2021: elimination of unnecessary requirements for Canadian
experience
■ Pay Equity Act 2021: federally regulated sectors with 10 or more employees
● Limitations of act
○ Gig economy, remote work in professional fields
■ Slowly implementing Portable benefits to help these individuals

Immigration and Canadian Mosaic

● Lautard and Guppy argbue vertical mosaic persists in Canadian society
● Occupational Differentation
○ Clustering of groups in particular jobs
● Occupational Stratification
○ Groups in lower paid vs. well paid jobs
● Satzewich and Liodakis: examine immigration policiese in Canada and Racism in immigration policies
● Stat Can: increase in foreign bron individuals and visible minority immigrants
● Econmomic immigrants
○ Skilled workers, self employed and business class, provincial and territorial nominees
● Changes to Live in Caregiver program resulted in fewer people
● History of Canadian Immigration policy
○ Systemic discrimination against racialized groups
● Contemporary immigration policy
○ Policies disadvantage racialized newcoemrs
■ Treatment of seasonal farm workers
■ Canadian government historically excluded racialized persons
● Ex. head tax
■ Introduction of points system reduced racial and gender discrimination
■ Hihg rates of immigration in first decade of 20th century and following WW2
● Canada benefits from admitting highly educated immigrants
● Brain drain as individuals trained in Canada left
● Early days of our country officials preferred
● British and American immigrants: notion of desirable immigrants
● Settlement of prairies made by immigrants willing to farm
● Male migrant labuor prevented from bringing wives
● Women from Carribean and west Indies hired to work as domestics
● Points based system based on education, job, skills and language
● Female migrant workers; transnational mothering, family separation, grief and trauma
 ● Experience of downward social mobility experienced by newcomers recently:
○ Need to recognize foreign credentials
○ Better policy needed overall

Immigration and Canadian Mosaic part 2

● Topics covered
○ Challenged facing newcomers integrating in Canadian labour market
○ How to make voting and political participation and leadership more inclusive
○ Mistreatment of asylum seekers in Canada
● Harford: New immigrants ready to sacrifice and struggle for kids’ future
● Unemployment rate of newcomers high especially with university degree
● Challenges faced by newcomer women
● Intersectionality is important in considering challenged defaced by newcomers
○ Interconnected nature of social categorizations like race, class, gender
● Downward social mobility experienced by recent waves of newcomers
● Ann: Montreal latest Canadian city to consider granting voting rights to non citizens
● Political participation and leadership underrepresents
○ Women
○ Racialized women
○ LGBTQ+
○ Indigenous
○ Canadians with disabilities
● Alhmidi examines mistreatment of asylum seekers
○ Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International find aslyum seekers in Canada subjected to
mistreatment and abusive conditions
○ Racialized persons are held fro longer periods of time
■ Those with disabilities or mental health conditions expereince discrimination
■ Greater oversight required

Migrant Workers