Nurses and their supporters protest Premier Doug Ford and Ontario's Bill 124 in front of the constituency office of PC MPP for Ottawa West-Nepean Jeremy Roberts, on March 4.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
The decision by an Ontario court to strike down a wage-cap law that targeted some female-dominated professions is a pivotal moment that exposes long-standing problems, according to experts and advocates.
Bill 124, passed in 2019, limited wage increases for some public sector workers – including nurses and teachers – to 1 per cent a year over three years. The legislation covered a range of public sector employers, including universities, school boards, hospitals and children’s aid societies. Other organizations were exempt, including municipalities and local boards, as well as judges, deputy judges and justices of the peace.
Notably, police officers and firefighters were not affected by the legislation, which speaks to how the province values the work they do compared with that of nurses and others who perform care-related duties, said Ivy Bourgeault, a research chair in gender, diversity and the professions at the University of Ottawa.
“There is an overarching devaluing of care work that is disproportionately undertaken by women,” she said.
Nursing groups and teaching organizations have been speaking out against the legislation since it was passed. But the outcry reached a tipping point during the pandemic, with hospitals and other health facilities facing unprecedented strain. Many nurses are reporting high levels of stress and exhaustion, and some are choosing to leave the profession, adding to a multitude of stresses on the system.
“I appreciate the importance of balancing budgets, but everybody needs to be part of the balancing of the budget,” Dr. Bourgeault said. “I don’t hear that there’s a massive exodus of firefighters and police.”
On Wednesday, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones denied claims that there is a “mass exodus of nurses leaving the system.” Ms. Jones told reporters that the government is working with the College of Nurses of Ontario to accelerate the accreditation of nurses, including those internationally trained, to increase the workforce across the province. She reiterated that the province is reviewing the court decision regarding Bill 124 and plans to appeal.
Doris Grinspun, chief executive officer of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, said the Health Minister is wrong and that the staffing crisis in nursing needs urgent attention, which includes better compensation.
“It’s so bad,” she said. “They’re leaving even soon after they begin in the profession.”
Evidence supports those claims. A report from the province’s Financial Accountability Office in September found job vacancies in the health care sector have nearly doubled since 2019, with 16,020 hospital position vacancies in the second quarter of 2022. And in recent months, many hospitals have been overwhelmed and have faced temporary shutdowns of emergency departments because of critical staffing shortages.
Nurses, like firefighters and police officers, perform a first-responder role, but the work of nurses has long been undervalued, Ms. Grinspun said.
Dr. Bourgeault incorrectly stated she hadn’t been able to access any provincial data. In fact, her colleagues have accessed some data. But the data on nurse attrition rates have not been released publicly.
Ms. Jones’s office did not respond to questions about the gender disparity represented in Bill 124.
Dianne Martin, chief executive officer of the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario, said nurses go to school for as long or longer than police officers and face more violence on the job. But the role of the nurse has long been undervalued, which is why they were included in Bill 124 while police weren’t, she added.
“When professions involve a caring aspect, we tend to forget about the incredible scientific background nurses have and how they engage in critical thinking,” Ms. Martin said. “The only difference I can see in these professions is that one is primarily female and the other is primarily male.”
Roughly 80 per cent of members at the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario are women. At the high-school level, a survey done last year found about 70 per cent of members – both teachers and education workers – identify as women.
Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary Teachers’ Federation, said Bill 124 has shown “zero respect” for the teaching profession, adding that the government believed it could subvert bargaining. She said the bill has led to recruitment and retention issues.
“The bill says that male-dominated job classes can have realistic increases while women-dominated fields will have to ‘make do’ and continue to fall behind,” Ms. Littlewood said. “As a society, we are still struggling to value women equally to men. The Ford government has simply perpetuated that inequity.”
With reports from Caroline Alphonso and Dustin Cook