POLICIES

Policy is organized by Year and by Subject. The full document of each Policy can be found under Policy Summaries or Complete Text for each year.

Policy Index by Year

Policy Index by Subject

Policy Summaries or Complete Text 1975-2018

Scroll down for text of most recent resolutions.
Please click the blue links below for the full document in Adobe PDF format. Note that new policy will be added to this web page after they have been voted into policy following our AGM in April of each year.

RESOLUTIONS 2021

PCWO RESOLUTION 2021-01

LONG–TERM CARE SYSTEM – CARE AND QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS

Whereas #1 PCWO policies for long-term care have supported improvements such as Inspection of Nursing Homes (1976), Regulation of Private Rest and Retirement Homes (1990), Ensuring health Care Quality (1997), Privatization (1999), Staffing Levels and Practices (2003), Standards for Long–Term Care (2008.2U), Regulation of Retirement Homes (2011U); and

Whereas #2 some improvements have been made, particularly in the public and non-profit sectors, long-term care homes often fail to meet the social, physical and mental health, safety and medical needs of residents; and

Whereas #3 the COVID-19 crisis shows the grave risk to seniors of this deadly virus from over-crowded conditions, old and deteriorating buildings with poor air quality and a lack of adequate staffing; and

Whereas #4 inspections of long-term care homes have decreased, focusing only on specific complaints with surprise inspections being eliminated in 2018; and

Whereas #5 in private sector long-term care homes 49 cents for every dollar goes to care but in publicly funded homes, 89 cents out of every dollar goes to care; therefore be it

Resolved #1 that the Provincial Council of Women of Ontario (PCWO) adopt as policy that:

1. all long-term care homes require specialized accreditation in order to provide high quality care for residents,

2. all physical spaces in long-term care homes be improved to meet high quality of care standards,

3. regular inspections and surprise inspections of long-term care homes be reinstated as standard practice, and

4. all long–term care homes be under not-for-profit ownership and administration; and be it further

Resolved #2 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to improve conditions at long-term care homes by:

1. ensuring full–time qualified staff , with full salary and benefits, are hired to provide high quality care to long-term care home residents, as determined by a provincial standard;

2. requiring provincial specialized accreditation for all long-term care home operations;

3. ensuring that all long-term care homes meet current HVAC standards for reducing airborne viruses and bacteria and building standards to ensure a high quality of air circulation for its residents and to eliminate overcrowding within residents’ rooms;

4. conducting regular and surprise full inspections of long-term care homes besides complaint based inspections, with mandatory follow-up that ensures timely penalties for non-compliance with provincial standards, including complete shut-down, if deemed necessary;

5. phasing out for-profit long-term care homes and ensuring all long-term care homes are not-for-profit.

PCWO RESOLUTION 2021-02

RAISING HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS IN SCHOOL SYSTEMS

Whereas #1 the optimal grade to include curriculum on unhealthy relationships is in the required Grade 9 Physical Education and Health Courses, where it would complement the teaching about healthy relationships that is already part of the curriculum; and

Whereas #2 the Ontario Grade 9 Physical Education and Health Curriculum does not educate students to recognize the coercive control and the “red flags” of luring used by human traffickers and similar predators that signal that a relationship is unhealthy; and

Whereas #3 the Ontario Government announced $307 million to be spent over the next five years to promote human trafficking awareness and to support survivors which includes curriculum for grades 1 to 8 and non-compulsory High School programs; and

Whereas #4 training of first responders i.e. firefighters, police, doctors and nurses, has successfully resulted in detection and intervention of human trafficking activity; and

Whereas #5 by expanding the role of teachers to educate and make youth aware of the presence of human trafficking and ways of guarding against it, teachers would serve as the first line of detection and intervention of human trafficking activity as a result of their regular contact with youth in school; therefore be it

Resolved #1 that the Provincial Council of Women of Ontario (PCWO) adopt as policy that human trafficking awareness be included in all school systems through curriculum and related teacher training; and be it further

Resolved #2 PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to ensure that unhealthy relationships including the coercive control and luring techniques used by human traffickers and similar predators be included in the curricula of all schools in the province; and be it further

Resolved #3 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to mandate that all teachers of grades one to twelve receive training on human trafficking.

PCWO RESOLUTION 2021-03

CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES

Whereas #1 the objects of a Conservation Authority (CA) are to provide, in the area over which it has jurisdiction, programs and services designed to further conservation, restoration, development and management of natural resources other than gas, oil, coal and minerals; and

Whereas #2 members of an authority are appointed by the respective councils of the participating municipalities; and

Whereas #3 science-based watershed information helps to steer development to appropriate places where it will not harm the environment or create risks to people; and

Whereas #4 changes made to Schedule 6 of the Budget Measures Act (Bill 229) will not allow conservation authorities to independently appeal decisions made around municipal planning applications; and

Whereas #5 changes to Schedule 6 of Bill 229 will have representatives on CA Boards acting in the interest of their own municipality rather than the interest of conservation authorities; therefore be it

Resolved #1 that the Provincial Council of Women of Ontario (PCWO) adopt as policy that:

a) board members of conservation authorities include environmental experts
b) conservation authorities have the power to appeal decisions made around municipal planning applications
c) conservation authorities act on a watershed basis; and be it further

Resolved #2 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to:

a) ensure that conservation authorities have both municipal councillors and environmental experts on their boards
b) allow conservation authorities to independently appeal decisions made around municipal planning applications
c) ensure that conservation authorities act on a watershed-based mandate rather than the specific interests of their respective municipalities.

PCWO RESOLUTION 2021-04

IN SUPPORT OF THE NATIONAL INQUIRY INTO MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN AND GIRLS

Whereas #1 the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls thoroughly investigated the persistent human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses behind Canada’s rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex and asexual (2SLGBTQQIA) people; and

Whereas #2 the investigation spanned nearly three years and involved the truths of more than 2,380 family members, survivors of violence, experts and Knowledge Keepers shared in cross-country public hearings and evidence gathering; interviews with survivors of violence, family members of victims and survivors, and experts, and

Whereas #3 the findings were published in the final report, “Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls” and delivered 231 individual Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians; and

Whereas #4 “Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls” urges actions by provinces and territories in response to the calls for justice; therefore be it

Resolved #1 that the Provincial Council of Women of Ontario (PCWO) adopt as policy the 231 individual Calls for Justice directed at governments, institutions, social service providers, industries and all Canadians of “Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls”; and further be it

Resolved #2 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to accept the findings of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls; and further be it

Resolved #3 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to implement the 231 calls for justice cited within the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Final Report where they are applicable on a provincial level especially those calls related to

items under provincial jurisdiction including inter-provincial cooperation, child welfare, health, mental health, culture, and criminal victimization; and further be it

Resolved #4 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario to contribute data to a national annual plan collecting data on victimization and to prepare a provincial annual report on the government’s actions taken to implement these calls to action.

PCWO RESOLUTION 2021-05

UPDATE: SUPPORT FOR PROGRESSIVE LABOUR LAW

Whereas #1 In 2006 the Provincial Council of Women of Ontario adopted as policy: The principle of full workplace protection, rights and pro- rated benefits to all part-time workers, and urged the Government of Ontario to:

a. amend provincial labour standards and regulations to ensure that all part-time workers receive the same protection, rights and pro-rated benefits as those guaranteed to full-time workers
b. regulate temporary work agencies under a strengthened Employment Agencies Act
c. remove the minimum hourly limit for paying minimum wage to employees
d. vigorously enforce labour standards under the Employment Standards Act.

and in 2018, Provincial Council of Women of Ontario urged the Government of Ontario to: a) undertake a comprehensive structural approach to the examination of non-standard work/precarious employment as it pertains to new labour laws; b) collect data and do a gender-based analysis of non-standard work; and

Whereas #2 changes to the Employment Standards Act through Bill 27, which came into effect in January 2019, reversed most of Bill 148 which came into effect in November 2017, in areas such as minimum wage, scheduling, personal emergency leave, public holiday pay and equal pay for equal work; and

Whereas #3 the majority of Ontario’s minimum wage workers are women in part– time, temporary or casual positions where exclusions in the Employment Standards Act 2000 (ESA) provides limited legal protections; and

Whereas #4 the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition recommends the minimum wage should be $15 per hour, effective immediately and be tied to the rate of inflation; and

Whereas #5 there is a need to reform the current arbitrary wage-setting process to one which includes implementation of annual wage increases based on an economic indicator formula; and

Whereas #6 equal pay for equal work recognizes employees may perform substantially the same kind of work, regardless of the employee’s employment status; and

Whereas #7 the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Report (2015) recommends the provision of 10 days of paid personal emergency leave with at least two paid days per year for employees who have been employed for at least a week; and

Whereas #8 the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Report’s (2015) recommendation 122 states that “Reform of the current prorated Public Holiday pay formula based on pay period over the preceding 4 weeks divided by 20, to reflect the number of hours or time period actually worked in the previous pay period, to provide Public Holiday pay for precarious workers”; and

Whereas #9 the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Report’s (2015) recommendations 88-98 addresses the need for proper notice of work schedule changes to provide short–term working women flexibility for family commitments; therefore be it

Resolved #1 that Provincial Council of Women of Ontario (PCWO) adopt as policy the need for changes to the Employment Standards Act and its regulations to continually improve the wages and working conditions of part-time, permanent part-time, fixed-term, temporary, contract, seasonal, and casual workers who are disproportionately women; and further be it resolved

Resolved #2 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario, to amend the Employment Standards Act 2000 (ESA) and implement:

1. an increase to the minimum wage to be in 50-60% of the median hourly wage as measured by the Ontario Ministry of Labour for full–time workers or minimum $15.00 per hour as of January 2021, subject to annual adjustment of every year starting in 2021; and

2. annual increases in accordance with an economic indicator formula allowing minimum wage levels to increase based on relative Consumer Price Index (CPI) and average Ontario workers weekly earnings or other applicable measure, applied with a minimum notice period; and further be it

Resolved #3 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario, to amend the Employment Standards Act 2000 (ESA) to require equal pay for equal work on the basis of number of hours worked including for part-time, permanent part-time, fixed-term, temporary, casual and seasonal employees doing substantially the same work as full-time employees and provide the right for employees regardless of their

classification, to request review to comply with this requirement; and further be it

Resolved #4 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario, to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) for all employees including part-time, permanent part-time, fixed-term, temporary, casual and seasonal employees, without an employment contract to provide the right for employees regardless of their classification to:

1. include at least two (2) paid emergency leave days per year accrued at an equitable formula or minimum 1 hour per 30 hours worked, and

2. ensure paid leave following one week of employment according to the formula; and further be it

Resolved #5 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario, to amend the Employment Standards Act’s current Public Holiday Pay Formula to reflect the 2015 Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Report’s recommendation 122 to be more equitable such that it reflects the actual number of hours worked in the 2 week pay period immediately preceding the public holiday by precarious workers; and further be it

Resolved #6 that PCWO urge the Government of Ontario, to amend the Employment Standards Act 2000 (ESA) to provide:

1. the right to request changes to scheduling after an employee has been employed for at least 3 months;

2. a minimum 3 hours of pay for being on-call;

3. the right to refuse requests to work or be on-call with insufficient notice; and

4. 3 hours of pay where a scheduled or on-call shift is canceled within 48 hours before the shift was to begin.

Policy Index by Year

PCWO Policy Index by Year 1975 – 2016 (posted Jan 2017)

Policy Index by Subject

PCWO Policy by Subject – Updated 2018

Policy Summaries or Complete Text 1975-2018

PCWO Policy – 2021

PCWO Policy – 2020