The Gig Economy: Making It Work for Businesses and Workers Alike

Date/Time
Date(s) - 6 Oct 2022
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Location

Category(ies)


The Intergovernmental Committee for Economic and Labour Force Development (ICE) partnered with the City of Toronto (Enterprise Toronto) to host a free webinar about the highs and lows of the gig economy and what policy changes could be made to protect gig workers while providing the flexibility businesses need to succeed.

The session began with a presentation by Deloitte Canada’s Evelyn Paul and Simon Webb, who provided an overview of their ICE-commissioned research report “The Gig Economy and Its Effects on Racialized and Immigrant Populations in Toronto” .  A panel of experts then provided their insights and perspectives on the Gig Economy: 

  • Laura Lam, PhD student at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto and researcher at the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) program in Migration and Integration, author of “Healthcare gig platforms help migrant workers survive – but at what cost?“
  • Jennifer Scott, labour organizer with Gig Workers United and food delivery gig worker
  • James LeNoury, BA, MA, LLB, lawyer specializing in employment and labour law

Tobias Novogrodsky, Director of Business Growth Services in Economic Development and Culture at the City of Toronto, moderated a discussion with the speakers and panellists that addressed questions from the audience. 

Download the Presentations:

The Webcast can be downloaded here

Our Presenters:
Evelyn Paul is a Manager at Deloitte Canada, leading client engagement and business development activities with the Economic Advisory practice. Evelyn was a former Senior Consultant at MDB Insight and graduated from the University of Waterloo’s Economic Development and Innovation Program. She has provided valuable insights and big picture thinking to over 40 projects focusing on economic development, sector analysis and workforce development. Her background and experience have resulted in a strong understanding of the intricacies and interrelations between economic development, the ‘future of work’ principles, innovation and entrepreneurship and creative and cultural industries.
Laura Lam is a PhD student at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto where she holds a SSHRC J.A. Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship and she is a 2022-2023 R.F. Harney Graduate Research Fellow. She is a researcher at the Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) program in Migration and Integration and her research interest is at the nexus of migration, precarious employment and gender, with a focus on the use of app-based digital labour platforms. She has previously worked in a marketing capacity with various startups and technology accelerators, and currently co-owns an employment-based social enterprise based in Vancouver, The Good Chocolatier.

Jennifer Scott is a gig worker who has been delivering food by bicycle in downtown Toronto for 5 years. As a worker-organizer with Foodsters United CUPW, she was part of the worker driven campaign that successfully won the right to unionize Foodora gig workers. She is the president of Gig Workers United CUPW, the Toronto based community union organizing to win labour protections and workers rights for gig workers.
James LeNoury represents a wide range of private and public sector employers and individual employees with respect to employment and labour employment and labour relations legal matters. James was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1992 and has specialized in employment and labour law since that time. Prior to attending law school James completed a Masters of Counselling Psychology Degree and worked as a crisis counsellor, and child and family therapist at childrens’ mental health centres in Ontario. In recognition of his accomplishments in the Supreme Court case Wilson v AECL landmark ruling which affects 10,000 federally regulated employers and 500,000 employees, James was awarded the National HR Employment Lawyer of the Year for 2016.
Tobias Novogrodsky is the Director of Business Growth Services in the Economic Development and Culture (EDC) Division at the City of Toronto. In previous roles with the City, Tobias led the development of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, created the Toronto Urban Fellows Program, and directed the planning and delivery of the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games. Prior to joining EDC, Tobias was a Director with Toronto Employment and Social Services responsible for strategic planning, policy, research and business intelligence.
ICE Committee