Minister Morneau Highlights Budget 2018 Plan for Middle Class Progress at SheEO

March 5, 2018 – Toronto, Ontario – Department of Finance Canada

Making sure every Canadian has a real and fair chance at success is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do. Canada's future prosperity depends on it.

To face the challenges of today and tomorrow, the Government of Canada will need the hard work and creativity of all Canadians. In return, it needs to ensure the benefits of a growing economy are felt by more and more people—with good, well-paying jobs for the middle class and everyone working hard to join it.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau today spoke with innovative women entrepreneurs at the SheEO Summit in Toronto about how Budget 2018 advances the Government's plan for middle class progress with new investments to promote equality and create new opportunities for Canadians.

Minister Morneau also spoke about how investments in Budget 2018 take the steps needed to encourage the broader participation of women in the workforce and build an economy that works for everyone. This includes the new Employment Insurance Parental Sharing Benefit that would provide additional weeks of parental benefits when parents agree to share parental leave, including adoptive and same-sex couples.

Through Budget 2018, the Government is making historic investments in women and girls and people with intersecting identities. With Budget 2018, the Government proposes:  

• A new Gender Results Framework to support equal opportunity for all Canadians, backed by new investments to achieve equality in the workforce and at home. A recent study by the Royal Bank of Canada estimates that closing the gender gap in labour force participation rates alone, over the next two decades, could boost gross domestic product by 4 per cent.
• Introducing a new Women Entrepreneurship Strategy to encourage greater participation by women in the economy, and help more women-owned companies grow into world-class businesses.
• To support the advancement of women in senior positions by publicly recognizing corporations that are committed to promoting women to senior management and board positions.
• A legislated "equal-pay-for-equal-work" regime in federally regulated sectors to the benefit of approximately 1.2 million employees.
• Launching a five-year pilot project, the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women, to encourage women's increased representation in male-dominated and better-paid Red Seal trades.