Gender Equality Week

Work that remains

  • In 2021, women made up 35% of STEM bachelor’s degree holders among Canadians aged 25 to 64. Women with STEM degrees are more likely to be unemployed and have lower median salaries than men with STEM degrees.
  • Indigenous women are less likely than non-Indigenous women to have completed postsecondary education (54% vs. 71%) and are less likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (16% vs. 37%).
  • Women continue to be over-represented in low-wage occupations – in 2022, 28% of women, compared to 16% of men, worked in the five lowest-paid occupations: in sales and service jobs, as care providers, and in administrative support roles.
  • In 2022, core-aged women (25 to 54) without disabilities had a higher employment rate (84%) compared to women with disabilities (73%)

Gender Equality Week

Entering the workforce and building skills

Why it matters

When women have equal access to education, skills training, and safe and inclusive workplaces, everyone benefits. Affordable child care, opportunities in growing sectors like AI and the green economy, and measures that help women succeed at work strengthen Canada’s talent pool, address labour shortages, boost productivity, and build a stronger economy.

Expanding affordable child care has helped increase Canada’s GDP by over 1% since 2019, adding roughly $32 billion, and enabling more parents, especially women, to work.

Gender Equality Week

The fourth week of September is Gender Equality Week in Canada. Take action to advance gender equality in your community.

Facts, stats, and impact: Gender equality

A growing number of Indigenous women are pursuing higher education. In 2021, more than half of Indigenous women aged 25 to 64 (54%) completed a postsecondary qualification.

More Indigenous women are working today than a decade ago. Between 2015 and 2025, the employment rate among Indigenous women aged 25 to 54 increased from 63% to 71%.

Work that remains

Indigenous women aged 25 to 54 are less likely to be employed than non-Indigenous women (71% vs. 80% in 2025). This gap has changed little since 2019.

Gender Equality Week

The fourth week of September is Gender Equality Week in Canada, a time to highlight progress made to advance gender equality, celebrate women’s achievements, and reaffirm Canada’s commitment to closing persistent gender gaps that hold too many back. Gender Equality Week was created through Bill C-309, the Gender Equality Week Act, which became law on June 21, 2018.

Why it matters

  • There is a wage gap between men and women.
  • Women are underrepresented in leadership, and face barriers in education and pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
  • Indigenous, newcomer, racialized, 2SLGBTQI+, and disabled women face disproportionate challenges.
  • Gender-based violence continues to affect women at alarming rates.

Gender Equality Week

The fourth week of September is Gender Equality Week in Canada. This week is about:

  • Celebrating and commemorating the notable achievements and advancements of
    Canadian women.
  • Addressing the challenges Canadian women and individuals of minority gender identity
    and expression continue to face.
  • Encouraging all Canadians to become and remain engaged, during Gender Equality
    Week and throughout the year, in achieving greater inclusiveness and full gender
    equality in Canada.

Work that remains

  • About 18% of 2SLGBTQI+ people aged 25 to 64 are in the lowest income group in Canada, compared to 14% of straight, cisgender individuals.
  • Access to employment is not equal for everyone. In 2021, 30% of transgender women and 22% of transgender men reported being denied employment because of their gender identity.
  • On average, women spend four more hours per week caring for adults and eight more hours per week caring for children, in comparison to men. This means women have less time to be able to work full-time, earn more money throughout their careers, or even just take a break.

In 2020, cisgender men aged 25 to 64 who worked full time for the full year had the highest earnings ($81,900). Earnings were lower for:

  • transgender men ($68,900)
  • cisgender women ($67,800)
  • non-binary people ($66,000)
  • transgender women ($64,300)