Contrasting Care: Provincial variations in care work policy during COVID-19

Executive Summary

The care work sector has been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and migrant care workers have largely been left out of public discourse. As labour standards and healthcare are provincial jurisdictions, the experiences of migrant care workers will depend on which part of the country they work in. To better understand how these experiences might differ, this report compares provincial and territorial wage top-up programs, government containment policies, and vaccination priorities. It includes data from March 2020 to June 2021.

The findings show major inconsistencies in the definitions of care work across provinces and territories, along with significant variations in how provincial wage top-up programs covered, protected, and supported care workers. Levels of COVID-19 and government containment policies were also varied between provinces, creating increasingly dangerous work environments for care workers. Despite the fact that care work an essential component of Canadian society, these findings demonstrate that its value, protection and support will vary depending on the province or territory.