As the COVID-19 health pandemic continues to evolve, each of us needs to do our part to reduce the spread of the virus and “flatten the curve”. We also need to make sure that as communities and a country, we are taking care of each other in the face of lost work and illness.
The Broadbent Institute has created this page to serve as a resource and sharing centre for those wanting to advocate for better worker and community protections and support in this time of crisis. It will be updated daily to track provincial and local calls for action and improvements won across Canada.
Important: For public health recommendations on COVID–19 (symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and risk, and travel advice), please visit the Government of Canada’s website.
Click here for a guide on applying for benefits from the federal government amid COVID-19 (Created by Dr. Jennifer Robson as an open-source guide).
Actions and Responses to COVID–19 (updated as of Friday, March 20th)
Below is a list of organizing and advocacy efforts happening across the country. Our team is working to update this list regularly as new calls to action and responses emerge, and we need your help! If you would like to suggest an action or response that should be added to this list, please contact [email protected].
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS
- Alberta: Alberta Rescue Plan (Alberta Federation of Labour)
- British Columbia: Paid and protected sick leave for all workers in BC, enhancement of EI benefits, access to income supports/transfers for workers that fall outside the current definition of employees (BC Federation of Labour)
- British Columbia: Protecting our grocery workers (UFCW Local 1518)
- Ontario: 7 paid sick days, end to sick notes, restored emergency leave, increased access to EI, and an emergency fund for workers without EI (Decent Health and Work Network)
- Ontario: All Workers Need H.E.L.P. (Health, Emergency, Labour Protections) (Workers' Action Centre)
- Ontario: Provide paid sick day for all workers (Ontario Federation of Labour)
- Ontario: Open letter to Premier Ford: Provide emergency support for all workers and vulnerable Ontarians during COVID-19 (Ontario Federation of Labour)
- Ontario: Demand Amazon give fulfillment Centre Workers Protections (Warehouse Workers Centre)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
- Alberta: Emergency isolation support
- Ontario: Job protection for workers during COVID-19 situation
- Quebec: Temporary worker assistance program
HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS
- Ontario: Eviction ban, Rent Flexibility, EI for All and a Loan Payment Freeze (ACORN Toronto)
- Ontario: Moratorium on evictions amid COVID-19 (Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario)
- Ontario: Moratorium on evictions amid COVID-19 (Greater Toronto Clinic Housing Advocates)
- Ontario: Halt evictions and postpone hearings at the Landlord and Tenant Board during pandemic (York South-Weston Tenant Union)
- Toronto: Increased shelter supports for homeless population (Shelter and Housing Justice Network)
- Toronto: Right 2 Housing and COVID-19 (Coalition of non-profits and advocacy groups)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
- Ontario: Moratorium on rental evictions
- Quebec: Rental board suspends eviction hearings
ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS
- Ontario: Letter to Minister Elliot regarding COVID-19’s impact on the opioid overdose crisis (Alliance for Healthier Communities)
- Ontario: Map of COVID-19 Assessment Centres (Centre for Effective Practice)
- Ontario: OPEN LETTER: COVID-19 pandemic highlights need for urgent action to ensure access to care for the medically uninsured (OHIP for All)
- Ontario: 7 paid sick days, end to sick notes, restored emergency leave, increased access to EI, and an emergency fund for workers without EI (Health Providers Against Poverty)
- Toronto: Street Nurses Network and Allies Demand Immediate Measures to Prevent Homeless Deaths Related to COVID-19 (Coalition of Street Nurses Network and other Toronto non-profits)
- Toronto: Petition to stop provincial public health cuts (Progress Toronto)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
SUPPORT FOR VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES
ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS
- Ontario: Precautionary measures for family caregivers amid COVID-19 (The Ontario Caregiver Association)
- Ontario: Food for people with precarious or no immigration status (Sanctuary Health)
- Ontario: Resources to help nonprofits adapt and respond to COVID-19 (Ontario Nonprofit Network)
- Calgary: Mutual Aid Resource Tool (Our Calgary)
- Toronto: A list of financial supports for the most vulnerable for resident in the City of Toronto (Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam)
- Toronto: Friendly Neighbour Hotline (Toronto General Hospital OpenLab)
- Toronto: Toronto COVID-19 Resources (citizens)
- Toronto: Volunteer Based Portal for Support (Pocket Community Association)
- Toronto: Action to protect public transit riders and workers & ridership experience survey during COVID-19 (TTCRiders)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
- Toronto: TTC announced all door boarding
- Cities that have halted fare collection: Ottawa, Guelph, Montreal, Calgary, Hamilton, Victoria
- Toronto: 60-day grace period for property tax, utility bills due to coronavirus outbreak
BROAD PLATFORMS
ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY EFFORTS
- Ontario: 14 paid sick days for all workers, eliminate doctor’s note requirement, suspend rent and mortgage payments, reverse all cuts to education, and more (Ontario Parent Action Network)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
- Ontario: Moratorium on rental evictions
EQUITY
ORGANIZING AND ADVOCACY
- Ontario: An Emergency Plan for Ontario Child Care in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care)
- Call for a specific strategy for First Nations communities (Assembly of First Nations)
- Healthcare for all, worker protections, stop detentions and deportations, status for all, community support, and inclusion of migrant and community organizations in the response to COVID-19 (Migrant Rights Network)
- Canada Must Implement Clearer, Stronger Measures to Protect First Nations and All Canadians from the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Pandemic (First Nations Leadership Council)
- Take immediate action to protect those in prison (Contain COVID-19, Not People)
GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
Federal/National Organizing and Actions
Many organizations have advocated tirelessly over the last few weeks for action to support workers, families and vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19. Recently, the Federal Government announced a comprehensive package of income, business and emergency support measures which responded to many of these calls. The package, though impressive, still contains gaps. Below we have listed federally focused campaigns that led up to the federal government’s response, many of which are still active, with calls of action that have not been met.
- Plan Now to Adapt to Coronavirus Safety (Climate Actions and Mobilizations)
- A plan to protect workers and the public from an unprecedented crisis (CCPA)
- Canada’s unions are calling for urgent fiscal measures to respond to COVID-19 (Canadian Labour Congress)
- Urgent Action: Eviction Freeze, Rent Flexibility, EI for All, Loan Payment Freeze (ACORN Canada)
- Cancel rent and mortgage payments during COVID-19 (change.org)
- Urgent call for more emergency shelter beds and spaces (Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness)
- Petition COVID-19: We need HELP (Health Emergency Labour Protections) now! (15 and fairness)
- 6 changes to income supports to aid workers amid COVID-19 (Broadbent Institute)
- Guarantee paid sick days to ALL workers to help stop the spread of the coronavirus (Lead Now)
- Make Vaccines and Diagnostic Tools for COVID19 Developed with Public Funding in Canada Available to All (Universities Allied for Essential Medicines)