Summary of Recommendations

26. Address specific language training support measures to the most vulnerable women: refugees, rural and remote women, and those with disabilities.

27. Ensure accessibility of language training courses through provision of childcare, counselling and support services, training allowances, transportation allowances, and other supports.

28. Expand access to the credential assessment process, so it is more accessible across the country, and takes less time.

29. Provide more bridging programs, so that women with foreign credentials can learn about working in Canadian context (e.g. technical language, work processes, professional jurisdiction, etc.), get a refresher course, and have access to practicums in industry .

30. Use prior learning assessments.

31. Resolve provincial jurisdiction issues around accreditation.

32. Social assistance must never be contingent on participation in training or employment programs.

33. Unpaid work, both domestic labour and volunteer work, needs to be recognized and compensated work, for example, through a system of deductions and tax credits.

34. Institute measures to improve women's fair and equitable access to the paid labour force. These measures would include widely accessible and high quality childcare, pay equity, employment equity, support services, including services designed specifically for the needs of disabled women

35. Implement measures to create jobs in the Canadian economy. The Federal Government needs to playa role in economic development:
    a) at the community level in support of community economic development,
    b) at the regional or national levels in identifying strategies,
    c) at the global level in negotiating with transnational or other governments to protect the economic, social and environmental security of Canadians.
    These measures should include:
    · improved access to credit for women entrepreneurs
    · federal support for cooperative financial institutions, such as credit unions, lending circles
    · consider introducing a shorter standard work week, and reducing use of over-time by employers.