Women, Minorities and Canada’s Economic Diversity

The 2018 federal budget placed significant importance on encouraging diversity in the Canadian workforce – including funding to support women, visible and religious minorities and immigrants, and this deserves kudos, as new opportunities abound. Here are some of the details:

Diversity is a central theme for Knowledge Bureau’s 2018 Distinguished Advisor Conference, entitled the “Changing Face of Community.” Tax and financial advisors can also expand their education about these issues and other key components of the budget at the spring CE Summit workshops. And women and newcomers to Canada looking for new employment opportunities in a thriving professional field can take advantage of our tax and financial education courses and designations.

Gender Initiatives. Budget 2018’s diversity initiatives are focused around the growth of the Canadian economy, while empowering diversity in the workforce. Specific emphasis in the budget is placed upon promoting gender equality, by addressing the 31 percent wage gap in median income that exists between men and women.

The Status of Women Canada program has become a funded, stand-alone government department and its key initiatives will be to introduce pay equity legislation for federally regulated industries, and to ensure that there is funding in place to address violence against women and workplace harassment. To support the implementation of these new policies, funding has been provided to Statistics Canada to collect gender-disaggregated data.

Additionally, this budget introduced a Women Entrepreneurship Strategy with $1.4 billion in funding available over three years to programs like Business Development Canada (BDC) and Export Development Canada (EDC). This strategy’s goal is to encourage women into leadership positions and to make economic contributions in non-traditional roles.

Immigration Initiatives. Budget 2018 aims to promote economic growth through diversity not only by focusing on closing the gender gap, but also by addressing discrimination against minorities in order to create a more inclusive climate in Canada.

Additional funding of $23 million has been provided for multiculturalism programming, with the goal of assisting with integration efforts as the Liberal government carries out their plan to increase the number of immigrants welcomed into Canada over the next three years – between 2018 and 2020 immigration quotas are expected to be around one million. As part of this plan, the government previously committed $440 million to improve intake services to more efficiently process immigration applications, as well as offering better services that help immigrants adapt to Canadian life.

Combining the two key diversity issues, the immigration plan committed $31.8 million specifically to help women who have immigrated to Canada, as they in particular face challenges in finding employment. Services offered through this funding will include providing assistance in verifying education credentials from other countries, and extending language services to help these women improve their English.

Creating Diversity in the Canadian Economy with Tax and Financial Services Opportunities. Statistics show that women are the minority in the financial sector, and improving economic diversity means looking for opportunities that break these traditional standards. As we’ve reported before, the STEM career paths (science, technology, engineering and math)—which include accounting, bookkeeping and insurance—have demonstrated that they offer some of the highest earning potential.

In the financial services sector, weekly earnings were 38 percent higher than the national average in 2017. For women, minorities and immigrants, tapping into these opportunities may require an educational investment in your future, but has become more worthwhile than ever as Budget 2018’s initiatives are implemented to support diversity in the workforce.

In the financial services sector, weekly earnings were 38 percent higher than the national average in 2017. For women, minorities and immigrants, tapping into these opportunities may require an educational investment in your future, but has become more worthwhile than ever as Budget 2018’s initiatives are implemented to support diversity in the workforce.

Every Canadian can learn from enhanced professional economic education. A comment we recently received from one Knowledge Bureau student speaks for itself!  Alvin Guevarra, who took interest in the Canadian tax system since immigrating, is now working in the tax and financial services:

“I’m not that really great with numbers but I love analyzing things. Since I came here in Canada I’ve observed that the taxation system here is astoundingly different from my home country, and that piqued my interest. I started studying Canadian taxation system in order for me to prepare my own tax returns. And here I am, from preparing only my own returns, I am now helping others to prepare their own returns.” He also stated that, “This is probably one of the best online courses I’ve had,” and appreciated the “tricky questions” that made him think out of the box and really exercise his reasoning skills.

Diversity is also a central theme for Knowledge Bureau’s 2018 Distinguished Advisor Conference, entitled the “Changing Face of Community.”   We hope you will join us in beautiful Quebec City, November 11-14, 2018.

Additional Educational Resources. Want to learn more about the diversity theme and how we as Canadians can collaborate to “work above our privilege”? Register now for the Distinguished Advisor Conference, taking place in Quebec City from November 11-14, 2018. Make this YOUR conference! Or, join us at the Spring CE Summits for post-budget action strategies.

If you’re looking for new employment opportunities, let our online campus set you on the right path to contributing to Canada’s economic diversity. Knowledge Bureau’s Courses, Diplomas and Designations can kick-start your career in the tax and financial services.

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