The best and worst places to be a woman in Canada 2017

Yesterday, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) released their ranking of the best and worst cities to be a woman in Canada. The report, by CCPA senior researcher Kate McInturff, is now in its fourth year and provides an important snapshot of the discrimination faced by women across the country—underemployment, a persistent wage gap, and life-threatening barriers when it comes to health, personal security, and more.

It is also a wake-up call—a reminder that in the absence of meaningful government intervention, Canada’s gender gap has persisted.

Statistics will never be a substitute for the full experience of lives lived, and decades of discrimination cannot be captured in a few data points. But as signposts they mark the spot where more attention is needed from our leaders, our policy-makers and our communities.

The good news is that organizations, community groups, and hard working people are stepping up. This year, the report highlights initiatives across the country that are not only building gender equality in their communities, but pointing the way toward progress — down paths as unique as the cities in this report. But they can’t do it alone.

Canadian prime minister is setting a feminist agenda for his government. That means federal departments are starting to ask the right questions about how their policies and programs impact men and women differently. It’s a start. But as they're trying to close the gender gaps in jobs, education, health, safety and more, they need funding and action working together so that every city in Canada can be a good place to be a woman.

The Best and Worst Places to be a Woman in Canada 2017
The Gender Gap in Canada's 25 Biggest Cities
Author: Kate McInturff
October 17, 2017

Download the publication here.

Source: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).