Gender Inequality Statistics in Canada

Gender equality has been on the agenda for several decades to end gender-based bias and provide equal opportunities for all, regardless of their gender. This includes equal opportunities in education and at work and the right to equal pay.

In this article, we look at the gender inequality statistics in Canada. Has the country succeeded in providing all genders with an equal footing, or do inequalities still exist at work and in our society?

Gender Inequality Statistics for Canadians

• Canada ranks 36th out of 146 countries on the Global Gender Gap Index (2024).
• Women in full-time employment earn 83 cents for every dollar men earn.
• Women need, on average, just over fifteen months to earn the same as men earn in twelve months.
• Women with children have a larger pay gap. 
• Around 1.6 million women live in poverty in Canada.
• Almost three-quarters of all part-time workers in Canada were women in 2025.
• Women hold less than one-third of senior management roles in Canada.

Definition of Gender Equality

According to the UN Women, gender equality means that all genders have equal rights, opportunities, and responsibilities. This does not mean that everyone should be the same but that your rights and opportunities should not depend on your gender. It means that everyone’s interests and needs are equally important, and rather than being a “women’s issue”, it is an issue for everyone as gender equality will make life better for all.

Canada’s Ranking on The Global Gender Gap Index

In 2024, Canada placed 36th out of 146 countries compared for their gender parity in four key criteria. Its ranking declined compared to 30th place in 2023. The countries with the best results for gender equality were Iceland, Finland, and Norway.

Canada’s ranking continues to be largely boosted by its ranking in educational attainment, where it places first together with 21 other countries. However, Canada still ranks lower in the other key areas of the index, particularly in health and survival, where it placed 95th, and in economic participation and opportunity, where it ranked 44th. In political empowerment, Canada ranked 31st.

Gender Pay Gap in Canada

The gender pay gap is a term used to describe the difference in average earnings based on gender. It is a widely used indicator of inequalities between genders, and in Canada, the pay gap exists at all professional levels across all industries.

People who face multiple barriers, including Indigenous women, racialized women, and women with disabilities, are more likely to experience larger pay gaps. The pay gap differs in different age groups, but findings by Statistics Canada show that the pay gap starts from a young age and continues into senior years.

What is the Pay Gap in Canada?

Despite improvements to ensure women and men earn equal pay for the same roles, the gender pay gap still exists. Women who work full-time earn 83 cents for every dollar that men earn in 2025.

If we compare the wages of women and men in full- and part-time employment, women earn 89 cents for every dollar men make. On average, it takes women just over fifteen months to earn what men make in twelve months.

According to data from the OECD, there is a 15.9% difference in the yearly median earnings between women and men in Canada. In the OECD rankings, Canada’s gender pay gap is among the ten largest.

Women With Children Experience a Larger Pay Gap

Since the 1960s, the number of women in Canadian workplaces has been steadily increasing. In 1976, the labour force participation rate for women aged 15 and older was about 45.7%, compared with about 61.2% in 2024. During the same period, the percentage of families on dual incomes also rose significantly as more women entered paid employment.

However, women are still more likely than men to interrupt their careers and stay home while their children are young, and this has an impact on their income. Women aged 25-38 lost 4% of their earnings in the first five years after having a child. According to a survey from 2015, mothers with children under 18 earned 85 cents per dollar earned by fathers, while women without children made 90 cents per dollar earned by men without children.

Why is Ending the Gender Pay Gap Important?

Not only is ending the gender pay gap important from the equal rights and opportunities viewpoint, but it is also vital because it is one of the root causes behind gendered poverty. The pay gap affects women of all ages, starting with adolescents’ summer jobs, where the pay gap is close to $3 per hour. Female pensioners in Canada are also impacted by the pay gap, with women retiring on average with 20% smaller pensions than men.

The gender pay gap also has global implications for Canada. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, Canada’s ranking for Economic Participation and Opportunity has shifted in recent years: in 2024 Canada ranked 33rd, and in the 2025 edition it ranked 35th among countries assessed for gender economic parity.

Other Key Gender Pay Gap Statistics

Racialised women have a far larger pay gap. Racialised women earn, on average, around 60% of what non-racialized men earn. Women and people who are gender diverse and have a physical disability remain more likely to be affected by pay gaps, with fewer than 20% reporting that they are fairly paid compared to their peers.

Gender Inequality and Poverty in Canada

In total, 12% of the Canadian population is living in relative income poverty, and around one-third are at risk of falling into poverty if they lose three months’ income. Women continue to make up around 60% of Canadians who are struggling economically. Approximately 1.6 million women are living in poverty in Canada.

Why Are Women More Likely to Live in Poverty?

Women are more likely than men to live in poverty because they are more likely to work in lower-income positions or part-time. In 2024, women accounted for about 70.2% of all part‑time workers in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, around 10% of Canadian women lived on low incomes.

Women also continue to spend a higher proportion of their time on unpaid work. On average, women in Canada spend around 15% of their day on unpaid work, while men spend about 10%.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Women in Canada

The global pandemic had a disproportionate impact on women and girls as well as gender-diverse people. The circumstances created by the pandemic intensified the inequalities that relate to gender but also to race culture, language, and economic status.

The effect the pandemic had on women’s participation in the workforce, career advancement, and earning potential were unprecedented and continue to unfold, with women’s participation in the labour force at the lowest level in three decades.

More Women Lost Their Jobs Than Men During the Pandemic in Canada

As of March 2020, around one million jobs were lost in Canada, and women accounted for 63% of jobs lost. The proportion of women was even higher in the 25-54 age group, where women accounted for 70% of all jobs lost.

According to a national poll from September 2020, one in three women in Canada considered leaving their jobs to manage childcare and domestic work better while schools and daycares were closed due to the pandemic.

Despite some gains in women’s employment during the summer and autumn of 2020, women’s employment was at the lowest level in twenty years. The employment rate for women in December 2020 equalled the rate from 2000.

The Most Affected Groups

Women who were single parents during the pandemic were more likely to experience job loss or have to reduce their working hours than women in two-parent families. 37.6% of single mothers experienced job losses or reduced their working hours compared to 25.7% from two-parent families.

Women who worked in hospitality and service industries were more likely to be impacted, and cutbacks continue to affect workers in these industries. Women who worked part-time or on minimum wage also faced a high likelihood of loss of work during the pandemic. 58% of women working on minimum wage or part-time lost hours compared to 1% of women earning more than $48 per hour.

Gender Inequality in Management and Leadership Roles

While women represent just over half the population of Canada, they are underrepresented in professional and leadership positions. This is reflected in Canada’s ranking on the global comparison, with Canada placing 32nd in political empowerment among 146 countries.

However, having more women in leadership roles is crucial for advancing gender equality in Canada. Having more diverse role models in politics and across industries will benefit the next generation, not just women but Canadian society as a whole.

Women in Business

Data from Statistics Canada shows that women hold only around 36% of management roles and just under 31% of senior management roles in Canada. Women of colour only hold 6.2% of management and leadership roles, while black women, Indigenous women, LGBTQ2S+ women, and women with disabilities represent less than 1% of people in leadership roles.

Within Canadian corporations, around 19% of board member positions are held by women, and only 5% of the largest publicly traded companies in Canada have a woman CEO.

Women in Politics

Unfortunately, the picture of women in leading roles is no better in politics than it is in the world of business. As of 2024, 30%  of the House of Commons were women. While this is the highest percentage so far, it is still significantly lower than 50%, which would be a truer presentation of Canada’s population.

Women hold around 17% of provincial premier positions, approximately 20% of mayoral roles, and about 30% of municipal councillor seats across Canada.

Conclusion

While progress has been made in addressing gender inequalities in Canada, there is still a lot of work to be done. Women in Canada are still earning less than men, and the difference is more significant for racialized and Indigenous women as well as for women with disabilities.

While the number of women in leadership roles has risen, women are still seriously underrepresented in leadership positions both in politics and in the business sector, and this is reflected in Canada’s ranking in international comparisons on gender equality. While there is a lot of work still to be done on the whole, at least in education, Canada is an example of gender equality holding the joint first position with 21 other countries.