Canadians across the country mark Remembrance Day
Canadians gathered Monday in cities and towns across the country to honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
Women have powered a recent shift toward higher-paying and -skilled jobs, but a pay gap will persist until they cease being outnumbered by men in senior management positions, says a new report.
Canada's labour market saw nearly 200,000 women stream into jobs involving less in-person contact and often significantly higher wages after many pandemic measures were lifted, the found.
Of the $21 billion in additional income created by the movement to higher paid sectors over the pandemic, $9 billion or 43 per cent was funnelled to women. This amounted to 15 per cent of the total boost to women's earnings during the pandemic recovery.
"But men still made up the majority of the income gains and much of that is likely because the roles that women and men occupy are still different," said Carrie Freestone, an economist with RBC Economics.
"Even though we see women in these higher paid sectors, often the senior leadership roles are disproportionately filled by men."
Her research found men made up more than two-thirds of senior leadership positions even though the number of women and men in the labour market are equal.
Some of the inequities were even more pronounced among parents.
Freestone found fathers with young kids were far more likely to be senior managers, filling 10 per cent of such roles, while mothers made up less than three per cent of the positions.
"So it appears that there's a link between having a kid and the fact that you may be less likely to take on a senior management role," she said.
Much of her research is based on the women who flooded back into the workforce after pandemic lockdowns, pushing participation in the labour market among working women to a record high of 85.6 per cent in January.
But many didn't return to prior jobs or industries and instead sought work that came with higher paid and "more productive" roles, the report found.
"High-contact sectors" like hospitality, for example, experienced an exodus of roughly 178,000 employees, when they were forced to close to quell COVID-19, said Freestone.
Many of the workers that fled these sectors were women. Despite filling about 55 per cent of jobs in these sectors before the pandemic, women made up 80 per cent of the movement away from them.
RBC estimated nearly 140,000 women streamed out of jobs in high contact sectors with many seeking roles in low-contact industries -- professional, scientific and technical services and finance, insurance, and real estate.
"The majority of people who moved from these sectors into higher paying sectors did have a degree or a college diploma, so a lot of that was potentially women who were overqualified for positions moving into sectors that better fit their level of educational attainment," said Freestone.
"And I think maybe women working in the hospitality sector saw other women who were able to work from home working in these industries like tech and finance, so I think there was definitely a pull to move into these industries that were more flexible."
The reshaping of their careers was aided by more flexible work arrangements and affordable childcare, and many were in search of less COVID-19 risk and higher earnings.
However, many of their salaries still trail their male counterparts.
Though women accounted for 60 per cent of jobs created in finance, insurance, and real estate over the course of the pandemic, women with degrees and working in finance, insurance, real estate and rental leasing earned roughly 85 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Across all sectors, women made an average of 89 cents for every dollar a man made in 2021, Statistics Canada's latest data shows.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2023.
Canadians gathered Monday in cities and towns across the country to honour the sacrifice of men and women in uniform who gave their lives in service of the country's values and principles.
Canada has announced changes to their visitor visa policies, effectively ending the automatic issuance of 10-year multiple-entry visas, according to new rules outlined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is naming longtime adviser Stephen Miller, an immigration hard-liner, to be the deputy chief of policy in his new administration.
Toy giant Mattel says it 'deeply' regrets an error on the packaging of its 'Wicked' movie-themed dolls, which mistakenly links toy buyers to a pornographic website.
If Earth's astronomical observatories were to pick up a signal from outer space, it would need an all-hands-on-deck effort to decipher the extraterrestrial message. A father-daughter team of citizen scientists recently deciphered the message. Its meaning, however, remains a mystery.
Business groups are raising concerns about the broad effects of another round of labour disruptions in the transport sector as Canada faces shutdowns at its two biggest ports.
A team of tornado experts is heading to Fergus, Ont. after a storm ripped through the area Sunday night.
Researchers are uncovering deeper insights into how the human brain ages and what factors may be tied to healthier cognitive aging, including exercising, avoiding tobacco, speaking a second language or even playing a musical instrument.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision eliminated the federal right to abortion, miscarriage management has become trickier and in some cases, deadlier.
A congestion crisis, a traffic nightmare, or unrelenting gridlock -- whatever you call it, most agree that Toronto has a congestion problem. To alleviate some of the gridlock, the Ontario government has announced it plans to remove bike lanes from three major roadways.
For the second year in a row, the ‘Gift-a-Family’ campaign is hoping to make the holidays happier for children and families in need throughout Barrie.
Some of the most prolific photographers behind CTV Skywatch Pics of the Day use the medium for fun, therapy, and connection.
A young family from Codroy Valley, N.L., is happy to be on land and resting with their newborn daughter, Miley, after an overwhelming, yet exciting experience at sea.
As Connor Nijsse prepared to remove some old drywall during his garage renovation, he feared the worst.
A group of women in Chester, N.S., has been busy on the weekends making quilts – not for themselves, but for those in need.
A Vancouver artist whose streetside singing led to a chance encounter with one of the world's biggest musicians is encouraging aspiring performers to try their hand at busking.
Ten-thousand hand-knit poppies were taken from the Sanctuary Arts Centre and displayed on the fence surrounding the Dartmouth Cenotaph on Monday.
A Vancouver man is saying goodbye to his nine-to-five and embarking on a road trip from the Canadian Arctic to Antarctica.