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Representation & Leadership

Significant Progress

Women are playing powerful roles in cabinet, leading to a greater focus on inequality and other feminist priorities. However, the government can do more to support the feminist movement and strengthen its own intersectional approach.

Women now hold many of the most important portfolios in Prime Minister Trudeau’s cabinet, putting them at the forefront of federal decision-making. Given the pandemic’s disproportionate socio-economic impact on marginalized women, this inclusive leadership is key to ensuring an equitable response to, and recovery from, COVID-19.

Budget 2021 was a feminist budget, both in process and substance. Following consultations with the feminist movement, the budget delivered historic investments in childcare and community services. Going forward, the government must continue to support and meaningfully engage the feminist movement, which has suffered serious losses in fundraising and capacity due to the pandemic. Canada also needs to strengthen its GBA+ approach, especially the depth of its intersectional analysis, to ensure an equitable economic recovery and to build back better.

This is the number of times Budget 2021 mentions women. It was the first budget presented by Canada’s first female finance minister, who prioritized engagement with feminist leaders and women’s rights organizations in pre-budget consultations.

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— Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, 2021

Read About Women's Rights and COVID-19

Representation & Leadership

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