Businesses Back Paid Sick Days

Businesses: add your name below if you agree!

An open letter sent to: The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and The Honourable Seamus O’Regan Jr., Minister of Labour

CC: The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, The Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, and The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

November 17, 2021

As business leaders from across Canada, we are writing to congratulate you on your new government mandate and offer our support to you in fulfilling your commitment to mandating 10 paid sick days for federally regulated workers.

We support 10 paid sick days for every worker in Canada. Not only is it an essential public health intervention, but we know firsthand as business owners that paid sick days are good for business and the economy.

When you pledged to implement 10 paid sick days federally and convene all premiers to achieve the same across the country, we were encouraged to know that political leadership is committed to a demonstrably smart and effective policy that works for public health and for business.

We’ve all faced challenges throughout the pandemic, with personal and financial losses taking their toll on millions. Let’s make sure we make the most of this opportunity to guarantee paid sick days, greatly mitigating future public health crises.

The small business community is 1.2 million strong. We employ 8 million Canadians. And we are diverse. Diverse in our experiences, our visions, our communities, our languages, our ethnic backgrounds. 

Know that for every foreboding prediction about paid sick days policy, there is a small business owner whose business survived the pandemic thanks to a healthy workforce with paid sick days. That for every dire warning, there is a business who boldly decided to offer paid sick days and saw staff loyalty skyrocket. And know that requiring paid sick days for millions of people in precarious work at large businesses will only help level the playing field for small businesses.

You’ve got businesses backing you on paid sick days for all. We are here to share with you our experiences and the research proving the efficacy of paid sick day policies. Kindly let us know when we can meet with your office. 

For review: Factsheet: Paid Sick Days are Good for Business