Ontario

Closing the gender wage gap: Public town hall meetings

Women in Ontario earn 31.5% less than men. The Gender Wage Gap Strategy Steering Committee, appointed by the Ontario government, is consulting Ontarians on how to close the wage gap. As part of the process, the committee is holding public town hall meetings around Ontario (see reverse for schedule). These are open mic sessions where you can have your say. You do not need to be an expert about the wage gap. This is the place to tell your personal story.

Public town hall meeting locations include: York Region, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Cornwall, Toronto, Windsor, Kitchener, Waterloo, Burlington, Scarborough, Peterborough, Sudbury, St. Catharine’s, and London. 

See the attached PDF for more information on time and locations. 

Key messages on child care and the gender wage gap

• Building a real child care system in Ontario is key to closing the gender wage gap. “Provide affordable and accessible child care” is one of the Equal Pay Coalition’s 12 steps to close the gap.
• An affordable, high quality child care system would be a key support mothers in the labour force. Right now the lack of child care is a major barrier.
• A child care system would support the thousands of women working in child care to earn decent wages that reflect the value of their work.
• Without adequate government funding for a real child care system, employers are caught between trying to keep parent fees affordable and pay educators decent wages. But we need both affordability and decent wages.

Learn more

• Visit the Equal Pay Coalition for 12 steps to close the gap: equalpaycoalition.org
• Ontario’s Gender Wage Gap Strategy: labour.gov.on.ca/english/about/gwg/

University of Toronto's Sociology department presents the S.D. Clark Symposium on the Future of Canadian Society: 

Income Inequality and the Future of Canadian Society.

9:30 am Refreshments

10:00 am Opening Remarks by Robert Brym,
S.D. Clark Chair of Sociology, U of T

10:15 – 12 noon TAX POLICY

• Robert Andersen Dean of Social Science,
  Western University
  "Can Canada learn from Europe? Policies to promote low market income inequality and high prosperity”
• Lars Osberg McCulloch Professor of Economics,
  Dalhousie University
  "How much can income tax on the top 1% be raised?"
• John Myles Professor Emeritus, Sociology,
  U of T, Discussant

1:30 – 3:30 pm GENDER POLICY

• Ito Peng Professor of Sociology and Social Policy,
  U of T
  "How welfare state policy can contribute to gender equality: a comparative perspective"
• Gordon Cleveland Senior Lecturer, Management,
  U of T Scarborough
  "The role of early childhood education and care in an equality agenda"
• Emily Laxer PhD candidate, Sociology,
  U of T, Discussant