New federal funding will help improve women's economic security in Québec

Project will help more women gain access to the trucking industry

MONTRÉAL, Aug. 10, 2018 /CNW/ - The Government is committed to advancing gender equality and understands the important role that creating more opportunities for women in all aspects of Canadian life can play in promoting women's empowerment. By investing in projects that improve women's economic security, we are helping to ensure that women, their families and communities can prosper.

The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport and Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, today announced Government of Canada funding for a project that will increase women's economic security in Québec. 

Camo-route will receive $294,000 in funding for their project, "Women Truck Drivers: Target 10%." This project will help more women join the trucking industry in Québec. Over the next three years, Camo-route will collaborate with key partners to identify and remove barriers that cause the under-representation of women in Quebec's trucking industry. The goal of the project is to change current recruitment, integration and training practices of businesses and training centres so that more women can find jobs in the industry.

Status of women Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Transport Canada are working together in order to improve the participation of groups that are currently under-represented in the transportation sector.

Women continue to be disproportionately affected by economic insecurity. In 2015, women in Canada earned just 87 cents for every dollar earned by men. They are also much more likely to work on a part-time basis, making up 76% of all part-time workers, with 25% of women reporting child care responsibilities as their reason for working part-time.

In October 2017, Status of Women Canada invited organizations to propose projects that support women's economic security across Canada by addressing some of the root causes of inequality, including barriers such as access to childcare, unequal pay and the gender wage gap. Through this call for proposals, entitled Support for Women's Economic Security, more than 30 projects have been approved for a total of $10 million in funding. These projects will unfold over a period of three years, and funding builds on our ongoing efforts to support women's economic empowerment and advance gender equality for all Canadians.

Quotes

"Our government knows that when we invest in women, we strengthen the economy for everyone, and that's why these projects are so important: they are creating the right conditions for women to thrive in their careers – and their lives. By funding organizations that will target the barriers holding women back, we are ensuring that all Canadians – regardless of gender – have a real and fair chance at success."

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Status of Women

"The federal government is committed to increasing women's participation in the transportation sector and other non-traditional fields. Camo-Route's excellent initiative will help more women find work in the trucking industry, which is important for our society and our economy. This project will further our goal of advancing gender equality."

The Honourable Marc Garneau, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Transport
Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount

"We are very pleased that the Government of Canada is supporting our project. Our goal over the next three years is to inspire the changes necessary to correct the historic under-representation of women in the trucking industry, and help more women get involved in this dynamic and growing sector of the Québec economy."

Bernard Boulé, Director General
Camo-route

Quick Facts

• RBC Economics estimates that adding more women to the workforce could boost the level of Canada's GDP by as much as 4 per cent.
• McKinsey Global Institute estimates that by taking steps to advance equality for women—such as employing more women in technology and boosting women's participation in the workforce—Canada could add $150 billion to its economy by 2026.
• Projects are being funded through the call for proposals, Support for Women's Economic Security, which was announced in October 2017.
• Economic security is composed of basic social security, defined by access to basic needs such as health, education and housing.
• More than 30 projects will receive a total of approximately $10 million in funding under this call for proposals.
• Funded projects address institutional barriers to women's economic security including access to childcare, pay inequity and the gender wage gap.
• The Women's Program at Status of Women Canada supports eligible organizations to carry out projects to advance equality by addressing systemic barriers.

Related Product

• Backgrounder

Associated Links

• Camo-route
• Support for Women's Economic Security
• Call for Proposals Application Guide
• General Eligibility Requirements for Women's Program Funding
• Guidelines for Eligible Expenses
• Status of Women Canada – Women's Program

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Backgrounder

Status of Women Canada – Women's Program

One of the ways Status of Women Canada advances gender equality is by providing funding to eligible organizations through the Women's Program. Projects are selected via calls for proposals on specific themes, as well as through a continuous intake process that allows the Women's Program to accept applications on an ongoing basis.

The Women's Program funds projects of up to five years that address systemic barriers to women's equality in three priority areas: ending violence against women and girls; improving the economic security of women and girls; and encouraging women and girls in leadership roles.

Calls for Proposals – Support for Women's Economic Security and Addressing the Economic Security and Prosperity of Indigenous Women

On October 2, 2017, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, launched two calls for proposals. The first call, entitled Support for Women's Economic Security, invited organizations to apply for funding for projects to address the economic security of women and help advance gender equality in Canada. More than 30 projects will receive a total of $10 million in funding through this call for proposals.

This call for proposals is divided into two themes; the first is Building Partnerships to Address Systemic Barriers, which provides funding to address major barriers that limit women's economic security, including, but not limited to, the accessibility of childcare, the gender wage gap and pay inequity.

The second theme, Increasing Private Sector Leadership and Investments in Women, encourages organizations to partner with the private sector to find innovative solutions that will help advance women's economic security.

The second call for proposals, entitled Addressing the Economic Security and Prosperity of Indigenous Women, invited organizations to foster collaboration between Indigenous women, Indigenous organizations, their communities, and the private sector to support the economic security and prosperity of Indigenous women across Canada. Fourteen projects across the country will receive more than $4.3 million in funding through this call for proposals.

Funded Project

Camo-route was created in 1990 and is the sectoral workforce committee for the Québec trucking industry. They join with sectoral, regional, employment, transport and education partners to identify human resource needs, increase worker mobility, strengthen the skills of the workforce and make training more accessible in all regions of the province.

Project description

Camo-route will receive $294,000 in funding for their project, "Women Truck Drivers: Target 10%." Over the next three years, Camo-route will collaborate with key partners to identify and remove barriers that cause the under-representation of women in Quebec's trucking industry. The project's goal is to change current recruitment, integration and training practices of businesses and training centres so that more women can find jobs in the industry. Along with their partners, they will develop an action plan and then take concrete steps on the issue in six regions across Québec. Private businesses, training centres, the provincial trucking association and Via Prévention will contribute resources to develop and implement new tools, provide support for the sector and share new practices. An advisory committee of sector leaders will also be formed to ensure the proper governance of the project and that results are shared through province-wide trucking industry events, promotional activities and partners' and stakeholders' websites.

Statistics – Women's Economic Security 

• In 2017, women accounted for about half of all employees in Québec, but about 7% of people employed in "transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupation."
• In Québec, the average hourly wage for those employed in "transport and heavy equipment operation and related maintenance occupations" was $21.06. The average hourly wage of women in these occupations was $19.33, while for men it was $21.18.
• Women are significantly under-represented among truckers. In 2011, there were 1,875 in the experienced labour force, which accounts for 3.0% of the total.
• Within this job category, women earn slightly less, on a weekly basis, than men ($821 compared to $924 for men).
• In 2015, 82.0% of women in the core working ages of 25 to 54 years (6 million) participated in the labour market.
• In 2015, women represented 47.2% of the labour force, up from 45.7% in 1999 and 37.1% in 1976.
• In 2015, the national employment rate for women was 77.5% compared to 85.3% for men.
• On average women work 5.6 hours per week less than men (35.5 hours/week compared to 41.1 hours/week).
• Currently, 19% of employed women work part-time (compared with 5.5% of employed men).
• The average net worth of lone mothers was less than half of that of lone fathers: $240,000 versus $540,000. Unattached women and men had similar average net worth at $250,000 and $230,000, respectively.
• Lone mothers had the lowest average adjusted income ($25,300), followed by those who were unattached ($33,700). The average adjusted incomes of lone fathers and unattached men were similar (around $40,300). Notably, the average adjusted income of lone mothers was $15,000 less than that of lone fathers.

SOURCE Status of Women Canada

Rosalyn Stevens, Special Assistant: Communications, Office of the Minister of Status of Women, 613-314-1225; Valérie Haché, Communications Officer, Status of Women Canada, 819-420-8684