Fairness. Respect. Security. Dignity.
These aren’t perks. They’re the bare minimum.
And yet one in three workers can’t count on them.
We won’t stand for it.
We stand with the ones fighting for decent work.
Nominations are now open
Decent work is the foundation of a good life and a healthy society.
Decent work is about making a living and a lot more. It’s about making the world of work better for everyone.
The Good Fight Prize is for the fearless campaigns that help us come together to fight for decent work. It’s about the wins, losses, and draws that make history and a real difference in our daily lives. It thanks the people who ask us to put our hands up, speak out and join in—over and over again.
What we’re fighting for
Employment standards should apply fairly to every worker.
Studies consistently show that between 30%–40% of Canadian workers don’t have jobs that provide secure hours, fair wages, benefits, or protections to enforce their workplaces rights. Misclassification and the rise of gig, contract, and temp jobs mean many workers are excluded from basic legal protections like a minimum wage and paid sick leave.
People shouldn’t have to work multiple jobs just to get by.
About 5.6% of Canadians work more than one job, with part-timers more than twice as likely to juggle roles. Multiple jobholders are disproportionately women, recent immigrants, racialized, and low-income workers, often in temporary or variable-hours positions that don’t pay enough to make ends meet.
Employment Insurance can be a true safety net.
Only around one third of unemployed people receive EI because of strict, uneven rules that exclude many part-time, seasonal, new entrant, and non-standard workers. Over the years, coverage has narrowed and benefit levels have become insufficient to cover living expenses for most people.
Workers shouldn’t have to choose between their health and their pay.
Only 64% of Canadian employees have paid sick leave, and just 22% of the lowest-wage workers in Ontario do — while most are legally guaranteed zero paid days. The result is higher illness and injury risk and a system that pushes people to work while sick.
More workers should benefit from union representation.
Unionized workers earn 11% more per hour on average, with far higher access to pensions and benefits. Union coverage is stuck at about one-third of workers (30.4%), with a stark divide between the public sector (76.7%) and private sector (15.5%). That gap matters: most Canadians want change. 70% say governments should make it easier to form or join a union.