Canada’s system of long-term care was a powder keg; COVID-19 the spark that set it alight. As the virus overtook nursing and care homes across the country, we began to hear about the outdated facilities and the population unable to advocate for itself.

Then there are the workers themselves, forced to work across multiple facilities just to make ends meet. These overwhelmingly female and disproportionately racialized workers have increasingly taken the spotlight, as researchers have pointed to our undervaluing of care work as a factor in COVID’s deadly spread.

One of these researchers is Ivy Lynn Bourgeault. She’s a professor of sociology and University of Ottawa research chair in Gender, Diversity and the Professions, with an international reputation for her research on gender and the healthcare workforce. She joins the podcast to discuss her recent piece for Policy Options on the need for a revaluing of the work that goes into long-term care.

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This article is part of the Facing up to Canada’s long-term care policy crisis special feature.

For related content, check out the IRPP’s Faces of Aging research program.

Photo: Shutterstock/By Jacob Lund