Introduction
One of the most notable developments and changes that have incrementally taken place in the Canadian labor market is the increased involvement or participation of women in the Canadian workforce. Throughout the history of Canada, the female gender has continued to play an important role in pushing and lobbying for more favorable and equitable working terms and conditions for women. As a matter of fact, more married and cohabiting women are now involved in the country’s labor force than they were two centuries ago when women’s voice and role in the labor market were insignificant. While the income inequality from employment of men and women was more apparent in the past century, the situation for women has significantly changed with more women now almost at the same level with their male counterparts in terms of income. However, some pundits have argued that “for women, inequality in the workplace did not disappear; it merely modernized its forms” (Strong-Boag, 1979, p.131). While this assertion may have been true at the time when this writer made it, a lot has changed and the situation of the Canadian women in the workplace has tremendously evolved with time, albeit there are still challenges in achieving same status with their male counterparts.
Luxton (2001) observes that women have participated in the Canadian workforce majorly through labor movements such as the National Action Committee on the status of Women and the Canadian Labor Congress. Through these social movements, women in Canada have made significant strides in the labor market by fighting for justice and equality in the labor force. Their situation in relation to the labor market has also evolved with regard to improvements in the situations of the poor and working class women in Canada. They have fought for the equality of women’s access to resources and more equitable distribution of wealth through such movements. According to Luxton (2001), there has been an increased participation of women in labor unions through which they have managed to champion for their equal rights in the labor market and have to some extent won the fight. Moreover, the presence or emergence of the notion of working class and union-based feminism in Canada in the 1960s and 70s also created an enabling environment for women to become important players in the Canadian labor force and market. Through the Quebec’s Francophone movement and the First Nations Women movement, Canadian women have challenged a number of factors such as racism that has reneged and limited the equal effective participation especially of immigrant women in the country’s labor market. The author attributes the increased participation of women in the Canadian labor force over the past one or so century to three main distinct factors. These include increased education of women that has seen them take up more positions in the workforce that were hitherto reserved for men, growth of strong working class women participating in the women’s movement that seeks to elevate the status of women and the changes in the feministic perspectives in the larger Canadian society.
Historically, women could only participate in the labor force in Canada if they were married and this seriously limited their employment status and discriminated against the female gender in favor of the male counterparts. However, over time, this old concept has changed with the emergence and strengthening of the concept of labor rights that are now reflected in the Canadian Human Rights documents and international instruments the country has ratified. More women, irrespective of their marriage status, are now involved in the various sectors of the Canadian workforce, thus representing an important evolution in the Canadian labor market as far as women’s place is concerned. The traditional notions of the man being the breadwinner of the family and the woman being the homemaker have changed drastically and women are now able to make decisions involving family income and resources due to their growing participation in the workforce in an almost equal footing with men. Division of labor and changes in the concept of ability and masculinity has also made women more active in the Canadian labor force (Tillotson, 1991). The long working hours with low wages and poor terms and conditions of work that characterized the 19 century Canadian labor market with the emergence of industrialization have now been ameliorated in favor of women and men. Moreover, the events of the Word War I and II also made significant impacts on the evolution of the place of women in the labor market in Canada. During these wars, women were forced to take up men’s jobs and after them, women now played an important role in the labor market. It is after this period that women’s participation in the erstwhile male dominated trade unions in Canada increased. While in leadership positions in these unions, women leaders continued to fight for better working conditions and higher wages for women (Tillotson, 1991). In the 1950s, with the expansion in Canada and other American countries’ economies, there occurred changes in the production process which helped create jobs for women to work in healthcare, education and welfare sectors of the economy.
Further afield, labor force changes in Canada over the past two hundred years may also be used to explain the evolutionary nature of women’s relationship to the labor market. With economic depressions or downturns and booms that have characterized the global and Canadian economies over the past century, the Canadian employment sector has witnessed a number of changes that have also affected women either positively or negatively. These economic realities have had the implication of expanding the sectors of the economy where services of women are in demand such as healthcare and education thus increasing their participation in the workforce. The inherent requirements of the labor force that specifically necessitated the employment of the female gender have also served to elevate the status of women in the Canadian labor force. According to Phillips and Philips (2000), the presence of women in the Canadian labor force between 1970 and 2010, for example, has increased from 30 million to approximately 73 million women workers, depicting an improvement in the role of women in the workforce. Women now serve both in the public and private sectors as judges, accountants, lawyers, physicians, police officers and pharmacists. This has changed from the 1960s, for instance, when the role of women in the Canadian workforce was limited or confined to that of being bookkeepers, elementary school teachers, secretaries, cashiers and administrative assistants. However, according to this writer, these changes in women’s participation in the workforce are taking place in a rather slow fashion and employers in Canada still retain employment policies that tend to work against women in terms of their rights during pregnancy. Furthermore, as the 1970 Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women depicted, the situation of women in the Canadian labor force then still remained pathetic amid calls for future improvements. Phillips and Phillips (2000) also argue that in spite of the strides made by women, there still exist inequalities in the labor force and labor market that they have to contend with.
Conclusion
As has been shown in the above discussion, the relationship of women to the Canadian labor market has undergone a plethora of evolutions over the past two centuries. These changes in summary include changes in the labor force composition, increased participation of women in labor union politics, increased involvement of women in the workforce and near equality of women with men in terms of working conditions, wages and control of society’s wealth and resources. These changes have been made possible mainly by increased education of women, changes in the attitude of the Canadian society towards feminism and economic changes that have created more employment opportunities for the female gender than was the case before.
References
Luxton, M. (2001). Feminism as a class act: Working-class feminism and the women's movement in Canada. Labour / Le Travail, 48, 63-88. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25149161
Phillips, P., & Phillips, E. (2000). Women and work: Inequality in the Canadian labor market. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company Ltd. Publishers.
Strong-Boag, V. (1979). The girl of the new day: Canadian working women in the 1920s. Labour / Le Travail, 4, 131-164. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25139927
Tillotson, S. (1991, Spring). "We may all soon be 'first-class men'": Gender and Skill in Canada's early twentieth century urban telegraph industry. Journal of Canadian Labour Studies, 27. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.lltjournal.ca/index.php/llt/article/view/4794/5667
