'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Following back-to-office notices issued by businesses across the country, a new study published Tuesday suggests the flexibility of working from home is more important than salary to many Canadian workers – especially women.
Study authors said the data from a survey of more than 1,300 working adults suggests that in order to retain women in the workplace, employers must offer the option at least some of the time.
“The pandemic forced millions of Canadians to change where and how they work. For most, especially women, a more flexible work life is welcomed and preferred,” said Abacus Data chair and CEO David Coletto, who led the research, in a news release. “Employers who want to recruit and retain women must recognize that flexibility is now table stakes.”
The survey found that 72 per cent of those who identified as women consider work-from-home flexibility as “extremely” or “quite” important. The survey was conducted by Abacus Data on behalf of The Honest Talk, a podcast focused on women entrepreneurs and professionals.
Those behind the survey asked how often respondents would like to work from home, given a choice, and found a "gender gap" when analyzing the results.
Abacus Data said the women surveyed would choose to work from home about two-thirds of the time. Male respondents said they'd choose to work from home a bit less often – about half the time.
A similar gender gap was noted when looking specifically at parents. Of those with children under the age of 15, about two-thirds of mothers said they want to spend most of their workdays at home, while 51 per cent of dads said the same.
On average, Canadians reported they wanted to work at home 58 per cent of the time.
According to the study, Canadians’ views towards work have been significantly changed due to pandemic.
Information that may be of use for employers looking to retain their workers is how important flexibility has become.
Working from home is a top priority for women, with 42 per cent saying they would give up a higher salary if it meant they could work from home as much as they like. This is 10 per cent higher than the number of men who said the same.
“Simply going back to the way things were done pre-pandemic is not going to be an option for many workplaces,” said Jennifer Stewart, co-founder of The Honest Talk in a press release. “It’s important that leaders understand what employees and potential candidates value in a job as they make these critical decisions around a future workplace.”
As well, 51 per cent of respondents reported experiencing a positive effect on their work-life balance due to changes brought about during the pandemic, according to the study.
More than half (54 per cent) of working adults believe that pandemic caused positive changes in the amount of free time they have and 42 per cent of respondents said it has had a positive influence on the relationship between work and their mental health.
Survey methodology:
The survey was conducted among 1,313 working adults across the country from Jan. 12 to 16. A random sample of panelists were invited to complete the survey from a set of partner panels based on the Lucid exchange platform. These partners are typically double opt-in survey panels, blended to manage potential skews in the data from a single source.
The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.8 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Canada’s population of working adults according to age, gender, educational attainment, and region. Totals may not add up to 100 due to rounding.
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
There has been a "sophisticated" cybersecurity breach detected on B.C. government networks, Premier David Eby confirmed Wednesday evening.
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
Rookie goalie Arturs Silovs will start in net for the Canucks as Vancouver kicks off a second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
One of the Indian nationals accused of murdering British Columbia Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar says in a social media video that he received a Canadian study permit with the help of an Indian immigration consultancy.
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A P.E.I. lighthouse and a New Brunswick river are being honoured in a Canada Post series.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.