Canada is a country known to be a welfare state, with socialized healthcare, unemployment insurance, and parental leave being cornerstones of a Canadian social safety net. However, Canada did not start off as a welfare state. For a long time, Canadian citizens were on their own if they had financial hardships. Welfare policies only began to be created in Canada in the 20th century. Today, Canadian citizens now have access to a wide variety of social security, ensuring that they won’t fall too hard when they go through rough times.
Canada enacted many policies during the 20th century in order to create a welfare state. These policies will be discussed within.
The enactment of socialized healthcare was an important part of creating a Canadian welfare state. In the early half of the 20th century, healthcare in Canada was very similar to the United States. If one needed a doctor, they would have to pay to get treatment. This was an issue for poor Canadians, as finding the funds to pay for healthcare was difficult. However, this started to change starting in the late 1940s. Tommy Douglas, the leader of the left-wing CCF party, was the Premier of Saskatchewan, and a strong supporter of socialized healthcare. Under his leadership, Saskatchewan became the first province to introduce free hospital care to its citizens. Many other provinces …show more content…
During the early half of the 20th century, new parents did not get any paid leave to care for their new baby. Parents would have to work and raise their baby at the same time, which was very difficult. In 1971, the Unemployment Act was expanded to provide 15 weeks of paid parental leave for mothers. In 1990 the Act was amended to allow both parents to use parental leave. Finally, another Act amendment in 2000 extended parental and maternity leave to one year, which is still one of the longest paid parental/maternity leave offered in the world. (K. M. Statistics
Canada enacted many policies during the 20th century in order to create a welfare state. These policies will be discussed within.
The enactment of socialized healthcare was an important part of creating a Canadian welfare state. In the early half of the 20th century, healthcare in Canada was very similar to the United States. If one needed a doctor, they would have to pay to get treatment. This was an issue for poor Canadians, as finding the funds to pay for healthcare was difficult. However, this started to change starting in the late 1940s. Tommy Douglas, the leader of the left-wing CCF party, was the Premier of Saskatchewan, and a strong supporter of socialized healthcare. Under his leadership, Saskatchewan became the first province to introduce free hospital care to its citizens. Many other provinces …show more content…
During the early half of the 20th century, new parents did not get any paid leave to care for their new baby. Parents would have to work and raise their baby at the same time, which was very difficult. In 1971, the Unemployment Act was expanded to provide 15 weeks of paid parental leave for mothers. In 1990 the Act was amended to allow both parents to use parental leave. Finally, another Act amendment in 2000 extended parental and maternity leave to one year, which is still one of the longest paid parental/maternity leave offered in the world. (K. M. Statistics