Question Period Note: Gender Equality in Leadership and Decision-Making Positions

What is the Government of Canada doing to support gender equality through access to leadership and decision-making positions?

• The Government of Canada is committed to increasing the number of women in leadership and decision-making positions, in both the public and private sector.
• The Government requires that federally-incorporated organizations disclose the diversity of their senior management and board of directors. This will increase transparency and advance gender equality and diversity in Canada's boardrooms.

• Since 2016, the new open and merit-based selection process for Governor in Council appointments has shown a significant increase for women. Most recent numbers indicate that the GIC population is made up of over 50% women.

In 1990 and 1995 the United Nations Economic and Social Council passed a resolution calling on governments, political parties, trade unions, as well as professional and other representative groups to adopt a 30% minimum proportion of women in leadership positions, with a view to achieving equal representation. As of 2019, Canada has yet to achieve this goal in most forms of leadership, including various levels of elected office, business and public sector leadership.

On May 1, 2018, Bill C-25 received Royal Assent. This Bill amends the Canada Business Corporations Act to require corporations to disclose diversity information to their shareholders, including representation of women, Indigenous Peoples, visible minorities, and persons with disabilities’ on their boards of directors and senior management teams.

The current Governor in Council population is made up of over 50% women, 6% Indigenous Peoples, 3% of persons with a disability, and 8% persons who identify as a visible minority.

The Department for Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), through its Women's Program, supports projects that address systemic barriers impeding women’s progress and advancement, including increasing women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles.

WAGE continues to work to increase the number of women in senior decision-making positions across government, and to support continued gender equality and diversity in Canadian companies. For example, since 2015, WAGE has invested through its Women’s Program over $27 million in projects to advance women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles, including:

• Over $18 million to fund roughly 50 projects that engage some 150 women leaders from across the country working to advance gender equality locally and as part of a pan-Canadian network.

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