The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses (RN), nurse practitioners (NP), and nursing students in all roles and sectors across Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contributions to shaping the health system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.
RNAO appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs on Bill 47, An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000, the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and the Ontario College of Trades and Apprenticeship Act, 2009 and make complementary amendments to other Acts, known in its short title as, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018.
Nurses see, in their daily work, the impact of poverty on people’s ill-health. To improve health and decrease health inequities, RNAO has been advocating for more than 15 years that the minimum wage be increased and labour laws be strengthened and enforced. Ontario's $14 per hour minimum wage is scheduled to increase to $15 per hour on Jan. 1, 2019 and then be indexed to inflation every October. RNAO has consistently supported this increase to the minimum wage that became law under Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 as well as other regulatory safeguards to support workers' health such as paid sick days.
Fair wages and decent work are essential for the health of individuals, families, communities, and our province. Decent work and wages advance Ontario's "vision of a province where every person has the opportunity to achieve his or her full potential" as envisioned by the Poverty Reduction Act, unanimously passed by all parties in May 6, 2009. As RNAO previously testified in our Changing Workplaces Review submission, decent work with fair wages is an important issue to RNAO and its more than 42,000 members – it affects their multi-faceted lives as health professionals, family members, workers, employers, neighbours, and citizens.