There is one aspect of the general policy statement which needs to be considered. It is readily apparent that violations of sex discrimination prohibitions can only be dealt with by the Commission through "recommendations" to the employer. Refusing to fill or consider any future job orders from such employers appears to be self-defeating. Only the federal government and its various agencies are required by law to comply with this policy. Other than that it is up to the individual woman to file a complaint with the human rights commission.

3. Successful job search techniques are a critical issue for women seeking employment. The Economic Council of Canada, in its 1976 study on the Canadian labour market, makes the following point:

"The most successful search method was to go directly to employers. Canada Manpower Centres (CMCs) are used extensively, but with only limited success. Fewer than one in six job-searchers (17%) find employment through CMCs, although three out of four (75%) contact the Centres."

"Conversely, CMCs fill between two-thirds and three-quarters of the 1 to 1.5 million jobs registered with them by employers."

"In Canada, as in most other countries, neither employers nor employment agencies are obliged to register their vacancies with CMCs. The CMC counselors thus handle only an estimated 25 to 30 percent of total hirings. Moreover, the jobs registered with CMCs tend to include a disproportionate number with low wages and low-skill requirements, or .they are in the high-turnover primary sectors. These conditions obviously have an adverse effect on the public image and effectiveness of CMCs."

"And, since most UIC and employable welfare claimants are referred to CMCs, in anyone month, there is likely to be six times as many clients seeking jobs as there are jobs registered by employers two out of three CMC referrals to employers are turned away."^l

The outcome of this peculiar set of conditions is that the women most in need of assistance and least likely to use private employment agencies (eg Welfare . mothers, immigrant women, under-educated women, etc.) are the ones who most often request assistance from CMCs, and receive referrals to unskilled and semi-skilled jobs which pay poorly and offer little hope of self-fulfillment, advancement, or self-improvement. At the same time, CMCs are likely to receive a distorted picture of women seeking employment in that the greater proportion of their clients are likely to be untrained and under-educated.

^1. Economic Council of Canada, People and jobs: A study of the Canadian labour market. (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1976), p. 16.